V 



^^ 




r< 






"^^ 

g 



» . 



LIYINGSTOIE'S ^--^ 
IN SOUTH AFRICA; 

INCLUDING 

A SKETCH OF SIXTEEN TEARS' RESIDENCE IN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 

AND A JOURNEY FROM THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TO LOANDA 

ON THE WEST COAST, THENCE ACROSS THE CONTINENT, 

DOWN THE RIVER ZAMBESI, TO THE 

EASTERN OCEAN. 

OF 

^'DAYID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D., D.C.L. 

FELLOW OF THE FACULTY OP PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, GLASGOW; CORRESPONDING MEMBER 

OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK; GOLD MEDALUST 

AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL 80CIETIE8 

OF LONDON AND PARIS, ETC. ETC. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED 

A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA. 




Th€ Tsetse Fly, magnified. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
J. W. BRADLEY, 48 N. FOURTH STREET. 



Entered accowung to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by 

J. W. BRADLEY, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for the 
Eastern District of Penusylvauia. 






i^ 



STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON & CO. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

PRINTED BY KINU & BAIRD. 



PEEFACE 



OP THE 



AMEKICAN PUBLISHER 



Dr. Livingstone is the most remarkable of all the 
travellers who have visited Africa. His personal nar- 
rative is the most important and interesting of all that 
have yet been published. It will prove the most influ- 
ential on future discovery. His great journey across 
the continent was almost entirely over ground hitherto 
untrodden by the foot of the white man. The infor- 
mation which he gives is therefore fresh, and, in 
many instances, refutes and explodes the theories of 
previous travellers. In the matter of personal adven- 
tures and hairbreadth escapes it is much richer than 
the doctor could have desired. 

Dr. Livingstone is a very pleasing writer, a man of 
true Christian benevolence, a man of extensive scien- 
tific information, and an indefatigable laborer in the 
cause of discovery and civilization. His personal nar- 
rative contains a vast amount of information on the 
geology, meteorology, zoology, and history of the coun- 
tries which he visited, which will be esteemed highly 



Vi PREFACE. 

valuable by scientific inquirers. The edition of hia 
book now offered to tlie public, by omitting a con- 
siderable -amount of scientific matter and minor de- 
tails, has been compressed into a compass which will 
render it perhaps more acceptable to the general 
reader than if the whole had been given, and at the 
same time bring it within the reach of those who find 
it necessary to consult economy in their purchases of 
books. 

The reader will observe that the narrative is all 
given in the language of Dr. Livingstone, and that it 
forms a complete account of his various journeys, 
omitting only incidental details and scientific matter. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Personal Sketch — Highland Ancestors — Family Traditions — Grandfather re- 
moves to the Lowlands — Parents — Early Labors and EflForts — Evening 
School — Love of Reading — Religious Impressions — Medical Education — 
Youthful Travels — Geology — Mental Discipline — Study in Glasgow — London 
Missionary Society — Native Village — Medical Diploma — Theological Studies 
— Departure for Africa — No Claim to Literary Accomplishments Page 9 



CHAPTER I. 

The Bakwdin Country — Study of the Language — Mabdtsa Station — A Lion 
Encounter — Virus of the Teeth of Lions — Sech^le — Baptism of Seehele — 
Opposition of the Natives — Purchase Land at Chonudne — Relations with 
the People — Their Intelligence — Prolonged Drought — Consequent Trials — 
The Hunting Hopo IS 



CHAPTER IL 

The Boers — Their Treatment of the Natives — The Tale of the Cannon — The 
Boers threaten Seehele — In violation of Treaty, they expel Missionaries — 
They attack the Bakwains — Their Mode of Fighting — The Natives killed 
and the School-Children carried into Slavery — Destruction of English Pro- 
perty — Continued Hostility of the Boers — The Journey North — Prepara- 
tions — Fellow-Travellers 28 



CHAPTER III. 

Departure from Kolobeng, 1st June, 1849 — Companions — Our Route — SerotH, 
a Fountain in the Desert — The Hyena — The Chief Sekomi — Dangers — The 
Wandering Guide — Cross Purposes — Slow Progress — Want of Water — The 
Salt- Pan at Nchokotsa — The Mirage — Reach the River Zouga — The Quakers 
of Africa — Discovery of Lake Ngami, 1st August, 1849 — Its Extent — Small 
Depth of Water — The Bamangwato and their Chief — Desire to visit Sebi- 
tuane, the Chief of the Makololo — Refusal of Lechulatebe to furnish us with 
Guides — The Banks of the Zouga 34 

CHAPTER IV. 

Leave Kolobeng again for the Country of Sebituane — Reach the Zouga — The 
Tsetse— A Party of Englishmen— Death of Mr. Rider— Obtain Guides- 
Children fall sick with Fever — Relinquish the Attempt to reach Sebituane — 
Return to Kolobeng— Make a Third Start thence— Reach Nchokotsa— Our 

yii 



VlU CONTENTS. 

Guide Shobo— The Banaj6a — An Ugly Chief— The Tsetse— Bite fatal to 
Domestic Animals, but harmless to Wild Animals and Man — Operation of 
the Poison — Losses caused by it— The Makololo — Our Meeting with Sebi- 
tuane — His Sudden Illness and Death — Succeeded by his Daughter— Her 
Friendliness to us — Discovery, in June, 1851, of the Zambesi flowing in the 
Centre of the Continent — Determine to send Family to England — Return to 
the Cape in April, 1852— Safe Transit through the Caffre Country during 
Hostilities— Need of a " Special Correspondent" — Kindness of the London 
Missionary Society — Assistance afforded by the Astronomer-Royal at the 
Cape Page 44 

CHAPTER V. 

Start, in June, 1852, on the Last and Longest Journey from Cape Town — 
Companions — Wagon-Travelling — Migration of Springbucks — The Orange 
River — Territory of the Griquas and Bechuanas — The Griquas — The Chief 
Waterboer — His Wise and Energetic Government — His Fidelity — Success 
of the Missionaries among the Griquas and Bechuanas — Manifest Improve- 
ment of the Native Character — Dress of the Natives — Articles of Commerce 
in the Country of the Bechuanas — Their Unwillingness to learn and Readi- 
ness to criticize 67 



CHAPTER VL 

Kuruman — Its fine Fountain — The Bible translated by Mr. Moffat — Capa- 
bilities of the Language — Christianity among the Natives — Disgraceful 
Attack of the Boers on the Bakwains — Letter from Sechele — Details of the 
Attack — Destruction of House and Property at Kolobeng — The Boers vow 
Vengeance against me — Consequent Difficulty of getting Servants to accom- 
pany me on my Journey — Start in November, 1852 — Meet Sechele on hia 
way to England to obtain Redress from the Queen — Ho is unable to proceed 
beyond the Cape — Meet Mr. Macabe on his Return from Lake Ngami — Reach 
Litubaruba— The Cave Lepelole — Superstitions regarding it — Impoverished 
State of the Bakwains — Retaliation on the Boers — Slavery — Attachment of 
the Bechuanas to Children. 63 



CHAPTER VIL 

Departure from the Country of the Bakwains — Large Black Ant — Habits of 
Old Lions — Cowardice of the Lion — Its Dread of a Snare — Major Vardon's 
Note — The Roar of the Lion resembles the Cry of the Ostrich — Seldom 
attacks full-grown Animals — Buffaloes and Lions — Sekomi's Ideas of Ho- 
nesty — Gordon Cumming's Hunting Adventures — A Word of Advice for 
Young Sportsmen — Bushwomen drawing Water 73 

CHAPTER VIIL 

Effects of Missionary Efforts— Belief in the Deity — Departure from their 
Country — Nchokotsa — The Bushmen — Their Superstitions — Elephant- Hunt- 
ing — The Chief Kaisa — His Fear of Responsibility — Severe Labor in cutting 
our Way — Party seized with Fever — Discovery of Grape-Bearing Vines — 
Difficulty of passing through the Forest — Sickness of my Companion — The 
Bushmen — Their Mode of destroying Lions — Poisons — A Pontooning Ex- 
pedition — The Chobe — Arrive at the Village of Moremi — Surprise of the 
Makololo at our Sudden Appearance — Cross the Chobe on our way to 
Linyanti - 86 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Keception at Linyanti — The Court Herald — Sekeletu obtains the Chieftainship 
from his Sister — Sekeletu's Beason for not learning to read the Bible — 
Public Religious Services in the Kotla — Unfavorable Associations of the 
Place — Native Doctors — Proposals to teach the Makololo to read — Sekeletu's 
Present — Reason for accepting it — Trading in Ivory — Accidental Fire — 
Presents for Sekeletu Page 96 



CHAPTER X. 

The Fever — Its Symptoms — Remedies of the Native Doctors — Hospitality of 
Sekeletu and his People — They cultivate largely — The Makalaka or Subject 
Tribes — Sebituane's Policy respecting them — Their Affection for him — Pro- 
ducts of the Soil — Instrument of Culture — The Tribute — Distributed by the 
Chief — A Warlike Demonstration — Lechulatebe's Provocations — The Ma- 
kololo determine to punish him 104 



CHAPTER XI. 

Departure from Linyanti for Sesheke — Level Country — Ant-Hills — Wild Date- 
Trees — Appearance of our Attendants on the March — The Chief's Guard— 
They attempt to ride on Oxbaek — Reception at the Villages — Presents of 
Beer and Milk — Eating with the Hand — The Chief provides the Oxen for 
Slaughter — Social Mode of Eating — Cleanliness of Makololo Huts — Their 
Construction and Appearance — The Beds — Cross the Leeambye — Aspect of 
this part of the Country — Hunting — An Eland 109 



CHAPTER XIL 

Procure Canoes and ascend the Leeambye — Beautiful Islands — Winter Land- 
scape — Industry and Skill of the Banyeti — Rapids — Falls of Gonye — Naliele, 
the Capital, built on an Artificial Mound — Santuru, a Great Hunter — The 
Barotse — More Religious Feeling — Belief in a Future State and in the 
Existence of Spiritual Beings — Hippopotamus-Hunters — No Healthy Loca- 
tion — Determine to go to Loanda — Buffaloes, Elands, and Lions above 
Libonta — Two Arabs from Zanzibar — Their Opinion of the Portuguese and 
the English — Reach the Town of Ma-Sekeletu — Joy of the People at the 
First Visit of their Chief — Return to Sesheke — Heathenism 116 



CHAPTER XIIL 

Preliminary Arrangements for the Journey — A Picho — Twenty-Seven Men 
appointed to accompany me to the West — Eagerness of the Makololo for 
Direct Trade with the Coast — Effects of Fever — A Makololo Question — Re- 
flections — The Outfit for the Journey — 11th November, 1853, leave Linyanti 
and embark on the Chobe — Dangerous Hippopotami — Banks of Chobe — 
Trees — The Course of the River — The Island Mparia at the Confluence of 
the Chobe and the Leeambye — Anecdote — Ascend the Leeambye — Public 
Addresses at Sesheke — Attention of the People — Results — Proceed up the 
River — The Fruit which yields Nux vomica — The Rapids — Hippopotami and 
their Youns: 128 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Increasing Beauty of the Country — Mode of spending the Day — The People 
and the Falls of Gonye — A Makololo Foray — A second prevented, and Cap- 
tives delivered up — Politeness and Liberality of the People — The Rains — ■ 
Present of Oxen — Death from a Lion's Bite at Libonta — Continued Kindness 
— Arrangements for spending the Night during the Journey — Cooking and 
"Washing — Abundance of Animal Life — Alligators — Narrow^ Escape of one 
of my Men — Superstitious Feelings respecting the Alligator — Large Game — 
Shoals of Fish — Hippopotami Page 138 



CHAPTER XV. 

Message to Masiko, the Barotse Chief, regarding the Captives — Navigation of 
the Leeambye — Capabilities of this District — The Leeba — Bufifalo-IIunt — 
Suspicion of the Balonda — Sekelenke's Present — Message from Man^nko, a 
Female Chief — Mambari Traders — A Dream — Sheak6ndo and his People — 
Interview with Nyamo^na, another Female Chief — Court Etiquette — Hair 
versus Wool — Increase of Superstition — Arrival of Manenko : her Appear- 
ance and Husband — Mode of Salutation — Anklets — Embassy, with a Present 
from Masiko — Roast Beef — Manioc — Magic Lantern — Manenko an Accom- 
plished Scold: compels us to wait 143 



CHAPTER XVL 

Nyamoana's Present — Charms — Manenko's Pedestrian Powers — Rain — Hunger 
— Dense Forests — Artificial Bee-Hives — Villagers lend the Roofs of their 
Houses — Divination and Idols — Manenko's Whims — Shinte's Messengers 
and Present — The Proper "Way to approach a Village — A Merman — Enter 
Shinte's Town : its Appearance — Meet two Half-Caste Slave-Traders — The 
Makololo scorn them — The Balonda Real Negroes — Grand Reception from 
Shinte — His Kotla — Ceremony of Introduction — The Orators — Women — 
Musicians and Musical Instruments — A Disagreeable Request — Private In- 
terviews with Shinte — Give him an Ox — Manenko's New Hut — Conversa- 
tion with Shinte — Kolimb6ta's Proposal — Balonda's Punctiliousness — Selling 
Children— Kidnapping— Shinte's Oflfer of a Slave — Magic Lantern — Alarm 
of Women — Delay — Samb^nza returns intoxicated — The Last and Greatest 
Proof of Shinte's Friendship 162 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Leave Shinte— Manioc-Gardens— Presents of Food— Punctiliousness of the 
Balonda — Cazembe — Inquiries for English Cotton Goods — Intemese's Fiction 
— Loss of Pontoon — Plains covered with AVater — A Night on an Island — 
Loan of the Roofs of Huts— A Halt— Omnivorous Fish— Natives' Mode of 
catching them— The "Village of a Half-Brother of Katema : his Speech and 
Present — Our Guide's Perversity— Mozenkwa's Pleasant Home and Family 
—A Messenger from Katema— Quendende's Village : his Kindness— Crop 
of Wool— Meet People from the Town of Matiamvo— Fireside Talk- Ma- 
tiamvo's Character and Conduct— Presentation at Katema's Court : his Pre- 
sent—Interview on the following Day— Cattle— A Feast and a Makololo 
Dance—Sagacity of Ants 180 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Watershed between the Northern and Southern Rivers — A Deep Valley — 
Rustic Bridge — Fountains on the Slopes of the Valleys — Village of Kabinje 
— Demand for Gunpowder and English Calico — The Kasai — Vexatious Trick 
— Want of Food — No Game — Katende's Unreasonable Demand — A Grave 
Ofifence — Toll-Bridge Keeper — Greedy Guides — Flooded Valleys — Swim the 
Kuana Loke — Prompt Kindness of my Men — Makololo Remarks on the rich 
Uncultivated Valleys — DifiFerence in the Color of Africans — Reach a Village 
of the Chiboque — The Head Man's Impudent Message — Surrounds our En- 
campment with his Warriors — The Pretence — Their Demand — Prospect of a 
Fight — Way in which it was averted — Change our Path — The Ox Sinbad — 
Insubordination suppressed— Beset by Enemies— A Robber Party— More 
Troubles— Detained by longa Panza— His Village— Annoyed by Bangala 
Traders — My Men discouraged — Their Determination and Precaution Pageiy9 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Guides Prepaid— Bark Canoes— Deserted by Guides— Native Traders— Valley 
of the Quango— The Chief Sansawe— His Hostility— Pass him safely— The 
River Quango— Chief 's Mode of dressing his Hair— Opposition— Opportune 
Aid by Cypriano — His Generous Hospitality— Arrive at Cassange— A Good 
Supper— Kindness of Captain Neves— Portuguese Curiosity and Questions — 
Anniversary of the Resurrection— No Prejudice against Color— Country 
around Cassange— Sell Sekeletu's Ivory— Makololo's Surprise at the High 
Price obtained — Proposal to return Home, and Reasons — Soldier- Guide — 
Tala Mungongo, Village of— Civility of Basongo— Fever— Enter District of 
Ambaca— Good Fruits of Jesuit Teaching— The Tampan: its Bite— Uni- 
versal Hospitality of the Portuguese— A Tale of the Mambari— Exhilarating 
EflFects of Highland Scenery— District of Golungo Alto— Fertility— Forests 
of Gigantic Timber— Native Carpenters— Coffee-Estate— Sterility of Country 
near "the Coast — Fears of the Makololo — Welcome by Mr. Gabriel to 
Loanda "^^^ 

CHAPTER XX. 

Continued Sickness— Kindness of the Bishop of Angola and her Majesty's 
Officers— Mr. Gabriel's Unwearied Hospitality— Serious Deportment of the 
Makololo— They visit Ships of War— Politeness of the Officers and Men— 
The Makololo attend Mass in the Cathedral— Their Remarks— Find Employ- 
ment in colle<;ting Firewood and unloading Coal— Their Superior Judgment 
respecting Goods— Beneficial Influence of the Bishop of Angola— The City 
of St. Paul de Loanda— The Harbor— Custom-House— No English Merchants 
—Sincerity of the Portuguese Government in suppressing the Slave-Trade— 
Convict Soldiers— Presents from Bishop and Merchants for Sekeletu— Outfit 
—Leave Loanda 20th September, 1854— Accompanied by Mr. Gabriel as far 
as IcoUo i Bengo— Women spinning Cotton— Cazengo : its Coffee-Planta- 
tions—South American Trees— Ruins of Iron-Foundry— Native Miners— 
Coffee-Plantations— Return to Golungo Alto— Self-Complacency of the Ma- 
kololo — Fever — Jaundice — Insanity ^•^'^ 

CHAPTER XXL 

STisit a Deserted Convent— Favorable Report of Jesuits and their Teaching- 
Marriages and Funerals— Litigation— Mr. Canto's Illness— Bad Behavior ol 
hia Slaves— An Entertainment-Ideas on Free Labor— Loss of American 

1* 



XU CONTENTS. 

Cotton-Seed — Abundance of Cotton in the Country— Sickness of Sekeletu'a 
Horse — Eclipse of the Sun— Insects which distill Water — Experiments with 
them — Proceed to Ambaca — Present from Mr. Schut, of Loanda — Visit Pungo 
Andongo— Its Good Pasturage, Grain, Pruit, &c. — The Fort and Columnar 
Rocks — Salubrity of Pungo Andongo — Price of a Slave — A Merchant-Prince 
— His Hospitality — Hear of the Loss of my Papers in " Forerunner"— Nar- 
row Escape from an Alligator — Ancient Burial-Places — Neglect of Agricul- 
ture in Angola — Manioc the Staple Product — Its Cheapness — Sickness- 
Friendly Visit from a Colored Priest — The Prince of Congo— No Priests in 
the Interior of Angola Page 265 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Leave Pungo Andongo — Extent of Portuguese Power — Meet Traders and Car- 
riers — Descend the Heights of Tala Mungongo — Cassange Village — Quinine 
and Cathory — Sickness of Captain Neves's Infant — Loss of Life from the 
Ordeal — Wide-Spread Superstitions— The Chieftainship — Receive Copies of 
the "Times" — Trading Pombeiros- Present for Matiamvo — Fever after 
Westerly Winds — Capabilities of Angola for producing the Raw Materials 
of English Manufacture — Trading-Parties with Ivory — More Fever — A 
Hyena's Choice— Makololo Opinion of the Portuguese — Cypriano's Debt- - 
A Funeral — Dread of Disembodied Spirits — Crossing the Quango — Amba- 
kistas called "The Jews of Angola" — Fashions of the Bashinje — Approach 
the Village of Sansawe — His Idea of Dignity — The Pombeiros' Present — 
Long Detention — A Blow on the Beard — Attacked in a Forest — Sudden 
Conversion of a Fighting Chief to Peace-Principles by means of a Re- 
volver — No Blood shed in consequence — Rate of Travelling — Feeders of the 
Congo or Zaire — Obliged to refuse Presents — Cross the Loajima — Appear- 
ance of People: Hair-Fashions 280 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Make a Detour southward — The Chihombo — Cabango — Send a Sketch of the 
Country to Mr. Gabriel — The Chief Bango — Valley of the Loembwe — Fune- 
ral Observances — Agreeable Intercourse with Kawawa — His Impudent De- 
mand 298 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Level Plains— Vultures— Twenty-Seventh Attack of Fever — Reach Katema's 
Town— His Renewed Hospitality — Ford Southern Branch of Lake Dilolo — 
Hearty Welcome from Shinte — Nyamoana now a Widow — Purchase Canoes 
and descend the Leeba — Despatch a Message to Manenko — Arrival of her 
Husband Sambanza— Mambawe Hunters — Charged by a Buffalo — Reception 
from the People of Libonta — Explain the Causes of our Long Delay— Pit- 
sane's Speech — Thanksgiving Services — Appearance of my " Braves" — Won- 
derful Kindness of the People 303 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Colony of Birds called Linkololo— The Village of Chitlane— Murder of Mpo- 
lolo's Daughter— Execution of the Murderer and his Wife— My Companions 
find that their Wives have married other Husbands— Sunday— A Party from 
Masiko — Freedom of Speech— Canoe struck by a Hippopotamus — Appear- 
ance of Trees at the End of Winter— Murky Atmosphere— Surprising Amount 
of Organic Life— The Packages forwarded by Mr. MoflFat— Makololo Suspi- 
cions and Reply to the Matebele who brought them— Convey the Goods to 
an Island and build a Hut over them— Ascertain that Sir R. Murchison had 



CONTENTS. xiii 

recognised the True Form of African Continent — Arrival at Linyanti A 

Grand Picho — Shrewd Inquiry — Sekeletu in his Uniform — A Trading-Party 
sent to Loanda with Ivory — Mr. Gabriel's Kindness to them — Two Makololo 
Forays during our Absence — The Makololo desire to be nearer the Market- 
Opinions upon a Change of Residence — Sekeletu's Hospitality — Sekeletu 
wishes to purchase a Sugar-Mill, <fec. — The Donkeys — Influence among the 
Natives — "Food fit for a Chief" — Parting Words of Mamire — Motibe's 
Excuses Page 311 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Departure from Linyanti — A Thunder-Storm — An Act of Genuine Kindness 

Fitted out a Second Time by the Makololo — Sail down the Leeambye — Vic- 
toria Falls — Native Names — Columns of Vapor — Gigantic Crack — Wear of 
the Rocks — Second Visit to the Falls — Part with Sekeletu — Night-Tra- 
velling — Moyara's Village — Savage Customs of the Batoka — A Chain of 
Trading-Stations—" The Well of Joy"— First Traces of Trade with Euro- 
peans — Knocking out the Front Teeth — Facetious Explanation — Degrada- 
tion of the Batoka — Description of the Travelling-Party — Cross the Ungues! 
— Ruins of a Large Town 326 



CHAPTER XXVIL 

Low Hills — A Wounded Buffalo assisted — Buffalo-Bird — Rhinoceros-Bird — 
The Honey-Guide — The White Mountain — Sebituane's Old Home — Hostile 
Village — Prophetic Frenzy — Friendly Batoka — Clothing despised — Method 
of Salutation — The Captive released — The Village of Monze — Aspect of the 
Country — Visit from the Chief Monze and his Wife — Central Healthy Loca- 
tions — Friendly Feelings of the People in reference to a White Resident — 
Kindness and Remarks of Monze's Sister — Generosity of the Inhabitants — 
Their Anxiety for Medicine — Hooping-Cough 339 



CHAPTER XXVIIL 

Beautiful Valley — Buffalo — My Young Men kill two Elephants — The Hunt — 
Semalembue — His Presents — Joy in prospect of living in Peace — Trade — His 
People's Way of wearing their Hair — Their Mode of Salutation — Old En- 
campment — Sebituane's former Residence — Ford of Kafue — Prodigious 
Quantities of Large Game — Their Tameness — Rains — Less Sickness than in 
the Journey to Loanda — Reason — Charge from an Elephant — Vast Amount 
of Animal Life on the Zambesi — Water of River discolored — An Island with 
Buffaloes and Men on it — Native Devices for killing Game — Tsetse now in 
Country — Agricultural Industry — An Albino murdered by his Mother — 
" Guilty of Tlolo" — Women who make their Mouths " like those of Ducks" 
— First Symptom of the Slave-Trade on this Side — Selole's Hostility — An 
Armed Party hoaxed — An Italian Marauder slain — Elephant's Tenacity of 
Life — A Word to Young Sportsmen — Mr. Oswell's Adventure with an Ele- 
phant: Narrow Escape — Mburuma's Village — Suspicious Conduct of his 
People — Guides attempt to detain us — The Village and People of Ma- 
Mburuma — Character our Guides give of us 351 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Confluence of Loangwa and Zambesi — Hostile Appearances — Ruins of a 
Church — Turmoil of Spirit — Cross the River — Friendly Parting — The Situa- 
tion of Zumbo for Commerce — Pleasant Gardens — Dr. Lacerda's Visit to 
Cazembe — Pereira's Statement — Unsuccessful Attempt to establish Trade 



Xiy CONTENTS. 

v»ith the People of Cazembe-One of my Men tossed by a Buffalo-Meet a 
Man with Jacket and Hat on-Hear of the Portuguese and Native War- 
Dancing for Corn-Mpende's Hostility-Incantations-A Fight anticipated- 
Couragf and Remarks of my Men-Visit from two old Councillors of Mpende 
—Their Opinion of the English— Mpende concludes not to fight us— His 
subsequent Friendship-Aids us to cross the River-Desertion of one of my 
Men-Meet Native Traders with American Calico-Boroma-Freshets- 
Leave the River— Loquacious Guide— Nyampungo, the Rain-Charmer— An 
Old Man— No Silver— Gold-Washing— No Cattle Page 611 

CHAPTER XXX. 

An Elephant-Hunt>-Offering and Prayers to the Barimo for Success— Native 
Mode of Expression-Working of Game-Laws-A Feast^Laughing Hyenaa 
—Numerous Insects— Curious Notes of Birds of Song— Caterpillars— Butter- 
flies— Silica— The Fruit Makoronga and Elephants— Rhinoceros-Adventure 
—Honey and Bees'-Wax— Superstitious Reverence for the Lion— Slow Tra- 
velling—Grapes—The Ue— Monina's Village— Native Names— Suspected of 
Falsehood— War-Dance— Insanity and Disappearance of Monahin— Fruit- 
less Search— Monina's Sympathy— The Sand-River Tangwe— The Ordeal 
Muavi : its Victims— An Unreasonable Man—" Woman's Rights -Presents 
—Temperance— A Winding Course to shun Villages— Banyai Complexion 
and Hair— Mushrooms— The Tubers, Mokuri— The Tree Shekabakadzi— 
Face of the Country— Pot-Holes— Pursued by a Party of Natives— Unplea- 
sant Threat— Aroused by a Company of Soldiers— A CivUized Breakfast- 
Arrival at Tete 387 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Kind Reception from the Commandant— His Generosity to my Men— The Vil- 
lage of Tete— The Population— Distilled Spirits— The Fort— Cause of the 
Decadence of Portuguese Power— Former Trade— Slaves employed in Gold- 
Washing— Slave-Trade drained the Country of Laborers — The Rebel 
Nyaude's Stockade— He burns Tete— Extensive Field of Sugarcane— The 
Commandant's Good Reputation among the Natives— Providential Guidance 
—Seams of Coal— A Hot Spring— Picturesque Country— Water-Carriage to 
the Coal-Fields— Workmen's Wages— Exports— Price of Provisions— Visit 
Gold-Washings— Coal within a Gold-Field— Present from Major Sicard— 
Natives raise Wheat, Ac- Liberality of the Commandant— Geographical 
Information from Senhor Candido— Earthquakes— Disinterested Kindness 
of the Portuguese ^^^ 

CHAPTER XXXIL 

Leave Tete and proceed down the River— Pass the Stockade of Bonga— War- 
Drum at Shiramba— Reach Senna — Its Ruinous State— Landeens levy Fines 
upon the Inhabitants— Cowardice of Native Militia— Boat-Building at Senna 
— Our Departure — Fever: its Effects — Kindly received into the House of 
Colonel Nunes at Kilimane— Forethought of Captain Nolloth and Dr. Walsh 
— Joy imbittered— Deep Obligations to the Earl of Clarendon, Ac. — De- 
sirableness of Missionary Societies selecting Healthy Stations — Arrange- 
ments on leaving my Men — Site of Kilimane — Unhealthiness — Arrival of 
H.M. Brig " Frolic"— Anxiety of one of my Men to go to England— Rough 
Passage in the Boats to the Ship — Sekwebu's Alarm — Sail for Mauritius — 
Sekwebu on board : he becomes insane : drowns himself — Kindness of Major- 
General C. M. Hay — Escape Shipwreck — Reach Home 420 

Historical Sketch of DiscoYERr in Africa 434 



JOUENEYS AND RESEARCHES 



IN 



SOUTH AFRICA. 



INTEODUCTION. 



JIy own inclination would lead me to say as little as 
possible about myself; but several friends, in whose judg- 
ment I have confidence, have suggested that, as the reader 
likes to know something about the author, a short account 
of his origin and early life would lend additional interest 
to this book. Such is my excuse for the following egotism ; 
and, if any apology be necessary for giving a genealogy, I 
find it in the fact that it is not very long, and contains only 
one incident of which I have reason to be proud. 

Our great-grandfather fell at the battle of Culloden, 
fighting for the old line of kings; and our grandfather 
was a small farmer in Ulva, where my father was born. 
It is one of that cluster of the Hebrides thus alluded to by 
Walter Scott :— 

"And Ulva dark, and Colonsay, 
And all the group of islets gay 
That guard famed Staflfa round."* 

Our grandfather was intimately acquainted with all the 
traditionary legends which that great writer has since 
made use of in the "Tales of a Grandfather'^ and other 
works. As a boy I remember listening to him with de- 

* Lord of the Isles, canto ir. 



^Q THE author's ancestors. 

light, for his memory was stored with a never-ending 
Btock of stories, many of which were wonderfully like 
those I have since heard while sitting by the African even- 
ing fires. Our grandmother, too, used to sing Gaehc 
soncs, some of which, as she believed, had been composed 
by'^captive islanders languishing hopelessly among the 

Tufks. 

Grandfather could give particulars of the lives of his 
ancestors for six generations of the family before him; 
and the only point of the tradition I feel proud of is this : 
One of these poor hardy islanders was renowned in the 
district for great wisdom and prudence; and it is related 
that, when he was on his death-bed, he called all his chil- 
dren around him and said, ^^Now, in my lifetime I have 
searched most carefully through all the traditions I could 
find of our family, and I never could discover that there 
was a dishonest man among our forefathers. If, therefore, 
any of you or any of your children should take to dis- 
honest ways, it will not be because it runs in our blood : 
it does not belong to you. I leave this precept with you : 
Be honest." If, therefore, in the following pages I fah 
into any errors, I hope they will be dealt with as honest, 
mistakes, and not as indicating that I have forgotten our 
ancient motto. This event took place at a time when the 
Highlanders, according to Macaulay, were much like the 
Cape Caffres, and any one, it was said, could escape punish- 
ment for cattle-steaUng by presenting a share of the 
plunder to his chieftain. ^Our ancestors were Eoman Catho- 
lics : they were made Protestants by the laird coming 
round with a man having a yellow staff, which would 
seem to have attracted more attention than his teaching, 
' for the new religion went long afterward, perhaps it does 
so still, by the name of "the religion of the yellow stick." 
Finding his farm in TJlva insuflicient to support a nume- 
rous family, my grandfather removed to Blantyre Works, 
a large cotton-manufactory on the beautiful Clyde, above 
Glasgow; and his sons, having had the best education the 



EARLY LABORS AND INSTRUCTIONS. 11 

Hebrides afforded, were gladly received as clerks by the 
proprietors, Monteith and Co. He himself, highly esteemed 
for his unflinching honesty, was employed in the con- 
veyance of large sums of money from Glasgow to the 
works, and in old age was, according to the custom of 
that company, pensioned off, so as to spend his declining 
years in ease and comfort. 

Our uncles all entered his majesty's service during the 
last French war, either as soldiers or sailors; but my father 
remained at home, and, though too conscientious ever to 
become rich as a small tea-dealer, by his kindliness of 
manner and winning ways he made the heart-strings of his 
children twine around him as firmly as if he had possessed, 
and could have bestowed upon them, every worldly advan- 
tage. He reared his children in connection with the Kirk 
of Scotland, — a religious establishment which has been an 
incalculable blessing to that country; but he afterward 
left it, and during the last twenty years of his life held the 
office of deacon of an independent church in Hamilton, and 
deserved my lasting gratitude and homage for presenting 
me, from my infancy, with a continuously consistent pious 
example, such as that the ideal of which is so beautifully 
and truthfully portrayed in Burns's "Cottar's Saturday 
Night." He died in February, 1856, in peaceful hope of 
that mercy which we all expect through the death of our 
Lord and Saviour. I was at the time on my way below 
Zumbo, expecting no greater pleasure in this country than 
Bitting by our cottage-fire and telling him my travels. I 
revere his memory. 

The earliest recollection of my mother recalls a picture 
BO often seen among the Scottish poor, — that of the anxious 
housewife striving to make both ends meet. At the ago 
of ten I was put into the factory as a " piercer,'^ to aid by 
my earnings in lessening her anxiety. With a part of my 
first week's wages I purchased Ruddiman's " Eudiments 
of Latin," and pursued the study of that language for 
many years afterward, with unabated ardor, at an evemng 



12 RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 

Bchool, which met between the hours of eight and ten. 
The dictionary part of my labors was followed up till 
twelve o'clock, or later, if my mother did not interfere by 
jumping up and snatching the books out of my hands. I 
had to be back in the factory by six in the morning, and 
continue my work, with intervals for breakfast and dinner, 
till eight o'clock at night. I read in this way many of the 
classical authors, and knew Virgil and Horace better at 
sixteen than I do now. Our schoolmaster — happily still 
alive — was supported in part by the company ; he was 
attentive and kind, and so moderate in his charges that all 
who wished for education might have obtained it. Many 
availed themselves of the privilege; and some of my 
schoolfellows now rank in positions far above what they 
appeared ever likely to come to when in the village school. 
If such a system were established in England, it would 
prove a never-ending blessing to the poor. 

In reading, every thing that I could lay my hands on 
was devoured except novels. Scientific works and books 
of travels were my especial delight; though my father, 
believing, with many of his time who ought to have known 
better, that the former were inimical to religion, would 
have preferred to have seen me poring over the " Cloud of 
Witnesses," or Boston's " Fourfold State.'' Our difference 
of opinion reached the point of open rebellion on my part, 
and his last application of the rod was on iny refusal to 
peruse Wilberforce's "Practical Christianity." This dislike 
to dry doctrinal reading, and to religious reading of every 
sort, continued for years afterward ; but having lighted on 
those admirable works of Dr. Thomas Dick, '^ The Philoso- 
phy of Eeligion" and " The Philosophy of a Future State," 
it was gratifying to find my own ideas, that religion and 
science are not hostile, but friendly to each other, fully 
proved and enforced. 

Great pains had been taken by my parents to instil the 
doctrines of Christianity into my mind, and I had no diffi- 
culty in understanding the theory of our free salvation by 



YOUTHFUL EXCURSIONS. 13 

the atonement of our Saviour; but it was only about this 
time that I really began to feel the necessity and value of 
a personal application of the provisions of that atonement 
to my own case. The change was like what may be sup- 
posed would take place were it possible to cure a case of 
"color-blindness." The perfect freeness with which the 
pardon of all our guilt is offered in God's book drew forth 
feelings of affectionate love to Him who bought us with 
his blood, and a sense of deep obligation to Him for his 
mercy has influenced, in some small measure, my conduct 
ever since. But I shall not again refer to the inner spiritual 
life which I believe then began, nor do I intend to specify 
with any prominence the evangelistic labors to which the 
love of Christ has since impelled me. This book will 
epeak, not so much of what has been done, as of what stiL 
remains to be performed before the gospel can be said to 
be preached to all nations. 

In the glow of love which Christianity inspires, I soon 
resolved to devote my life to the alleviation of human 
misery. Turning this idea over in my mind, I felt that to 
be a pioneer of Christianity in China might lead to the 
material benefit of some portions of that immense empire, 
and therefore set myself to obtain a medical education, in 
order to be qualified for that enterprise. 

In recognising the plants pointed out in my first medical 
book, that extraordinary old work on astrological medicine, 
Culpeper 8 ^^ Herbal," I had the guidance of a book on the 
plants of Lanarkshire, by Patrick. Limited as my time 
was, I found opportunities to scour the whole country-side, 
<* collecting simples." Deep and anxious were my studies 
on the still deeper and more perplexing profundities of 
astrology, and I believe I got as far into that abyss of fan- 
tasies as my author said he dared to lead me. It seemed 
perilous ground to tread on farther, for the dark hint seemed 
to my youthful mind to loom toward " selling soul and body 
to tne devil," as the price of tne unfathomable knowledge 
of the stars. These excursions, often in company with 

2 



14 STUDY DURING WORKING-HOURS. 

brothers, one now in Canada, and the other a clergyman 
in the "United States, gratified my intense love of nature; 
and though we generally returned so unmercifully hungry 
and fatigued that the embryo parson shed tears, yet wo 
discovered, to us, so many new and interesting things, that 
he was always as eager to join us next time as he was the 
last. 

On one of these exploring tours we entered a limestone- 
quarry, — long before geology was so popular as it is now. 
It is impossible to describe the delight and wonder with 
which I began to collect the shells found in the carboni- 
ferous limestone which crops out in High Blantyre and Cam- 
buslang. A quarry-man, seeing a little boy so engaged, 
looked with that pitying eye which the benevolent assume 
when viewing the insane. Addressing him with, ^'How 
ever did these shells come into these rocks 1" "When God 
made the rocks, he made the shells in them," was the 
damping reply. What a deal of trouble geologists might 
have saved themselves by adopting the Turk-like philo- 
sophy of this Scotchman ! 

My reading while at work was carried on by placing the 
book on a portion of the spinning-jenny, so that I could 
catch sentence after sentence as I passed at my work : I 
thus kept up a pretty constant study, undisturbed by the 
roar of the machinery. To this part of my education I owe 
my present power of completely abstracting the mind from 
surrounding noises, so as to read and write with perfect 
comfort amid the play of children or near the dancing and 
songs of savages. The toil of cotton-spinning, to which 
I was promoted in my nineteenth year, was excessively 
severe on a slim, loose-jointed lad, but it was well paid for; 
and it enabled me to support myself while attending me- 
dical and Greek classes in Glasgow in winter, as also the 
divinity lectures of Dr. Wardlaw by working with my 
hands in summer. I never received a farthing of aid from 
any one, and should have accomplished my project of going 
to China as a medical missionary, in the course of time, by 



THE author's native VILLAGE. 15 

my own efforts, had not some friends advised my joining 
the London Missionary Society, on account of its perfectly 
nnseetarian character. It "sends neither Episcopacy, nor 
Presbyterianism, nor Independency, but the gospel of 
Christ, to the heathen." This exactly agreed with my 
ideas of what a missionary society ought to do; but it was 
not without a pang that I offered myself, for 't was not 
quite agreeable to one accustomed to work his own way 
to become in a measure dependent on others; and I would 
not have been much put about though my offer had been 
rejected. 

Looking back now on that life of toil, I cannot but feel 
thankful that it formed such a material part of my early 
education; and, were it possible, I should like to begin life 
over again in the same lowly style, and to pass through 
the same hardy training. 

Time and travel have not effaced the feelings of respect 
1 imbibed for the humble inhabitants of my native village. 
For morality, honesty, and intelligence, they were, in 
general, good specimens of the Scottish poor. In a popu- 
lation of more than two thousand souls, we had, of course, 
a variety of character. In addition to the common run 
of men, there were some characters of sterling worth and 
ability, who exerted a most beneficial influence on the chil- 
dren and youth of the place by imparting gratuitous reli- 
gious instruction.* Much intelligent interest was felt by the 
villagers in all f)ublic questions, and they furnished a proof 
that the possession of the means of education did not render 
them an unsafe portion of the population. They felt kindly 

* The reader will pardon my mentioning the names of two of these 
most worthy men, — David Hogg, who addressed me on bis death-bed with 
the words, *'Now, lad, make religion the every-day business of your 
life, and not a thing of fits and starts ; for if you do not, temptation and 
other things will get the better of you;" and Thomas Burke, an old 
Forty-Second Peninsula soldier, who has been incessant and never weary 
in good works for about forty years. I was delighted to find him still 
alive : men like these are an honor to their country and profession. 



IC MEDICAL DIPLOMA. 

toward each other, and much respected those of the neigh- 
boring gentry who, like the late Lord Douglas, placed some 
confidence in their sense of honor. Through the kindnesa 
of that nobleman, the poorest among us could stroll at 
pleasure over the ancient domains of Bothwell, and other 
spots hallowed by the venerable associations of which our 
school-books and local traditions made us well aware; and 
few of us could view the dear memorials of the past with- 
out feeling that these carefully-kept monuments were our 
own. The masses of the working-people of Scotland have 
read history, and are no revolutionary levellers. They re- 
joice in the memories of "Wallace and Bruce and a' the 
lave," who are still much revered as the former champions 
of freedom. "And, while foreigners imagine that we want 
the spirit only to overturn capitalists and aristocracy, we 
are content to respect our laws till we can change them, 
and hate those stupid revolutions which might sweep away 
time-honored institutions, dear alike to rich and poor. 

Having finished the medical curriculum and presented a 
thesis on a subject which required the use of the stetho- 
scope for its diagnosis, I unwittingly procured for myself an 
examination rather more severe and prolonged than usual 
among examining bodies. The reason was, that between 
me and the examiners a slight diiEference of opinion existed 
as to whether this instrument could do what was asserted. 
The wiser plan would have been to have had no opinion of 
my own. However, I was admitted a Licentiate of Faculty 
of Physicians and Surgeons. It was with unfeigned delight 
I became a member of a profession which is pre-eminently 
devoted to practical benevolence, and which with unwearied 
energy pursues from age to age its endeavors to lessen 
human woe. 

But, though now qualified for my original plan, the opium 
war was then raging, and it was deemed inexpedient foi 
me to proceed to China. I had fondly hoped to have 
gained access to that then closed empire by means of the 
healing art; but, there being no ]Drospect of an early peaeo 



NO CLAIM TO LITERARY MERIT. 17 

with the Chinese, and as another inviting field was open- 
ing out through the labors of Mr. Moffat, I was induced to 
turn my thoughts to Africa ; and, after a more extended 
course of theological training in England than I had en- 
joyed in Glasgow, I embarked for Africa in 1840, and, after 
a voyage of three months, reached Cape Town. Spending 
but a short time there, I started for the interior by going 
round to Algoa Bay, and soon proceeded inland, and have 
spent the following sixteen years of my life, namely, from 
1840 to 1856, in medical and missionary labors there with- 
out cost to the inhabitants. 

As to those literary qualifications which are acquired by 
habits of writing, and which are so im2:)ortant to an author, 
my African life has not only not been favorable to the 
growth of such accomplishments, but quite the reverse; 
it has made composition irksome and laborious. I think I 
would rather cross the African continent again than under- 
take to write another book. It is far easier to travel than 
to write about it. I intended on going to Africa to con- 
tinue my studies; but as I could not brook the idea of 
simply entering into other men's labors made ready to my 
hands, I entailed on myself, in addition to teaching, ma- 
nual labor in building and other handicraft-work, which 
made me generally as much exhausted and unfit for study 
in the evenings as ever I had been when a cotton-spinner. 
The want of time for self-improvement was the only source 
of regret that I experienced during my African career. 
The reader, remembering this, will make allowances for 
the mere gropings for light of a student who has the vanity 
to think himself " not yet too old to learn.'' More precise 
information on several subjects has necessarily been omitted 
in a popular work like the present; but I hope to give such 
details to the scientific reader through some other channel 



B 



18 THE BAKWAIN COUNTRY 

CHAPTEE I. 

1»R. LIVINGSTONE A MISSIONARY IN THE BAKWAIN COUNTRY, 

The general instructions I received from the Directors 
of the London Missionary Society led me, as soon as I. 
reached Kuruman or Lattakoo, then, as it is now, their 
farthest inland station from the Cape, to turn my attention 
to the north. Without waiting longer at Kuruman than 
was necessary to recruit the oxen, which were pretty well 
tired hy the long journey from Algoa Bay, I proceeded, in 
company with another missionary, to the Bakuena or 
Bakwain country, and found Sechele, with his tribe, located 
at Shokuane. We shortly after retraced our steps to Kuru- 
man ; but as the objects in view were by no means to be 
attained by a temporary excursion of this sort, I determined 
to make a fresh start into the interior as soon as possible. 
Accordingly, after resting three months at Kuruman, which 
is a kind of head-station in the country, I returned to a 
spot about fifteen miles south of Shokuane, called Lepelole, 
(now Litubariiba.) Here, in order to obtain an accurate 
knowledge of the language, I cut myself off from all Eu- 
ropean society for about six months, and gained by this 
ordeal an insight into the habits, ways of thinking, laws, 
and language of that section of the Bechuanas called Bak- 
wains, which has proved of incalculable advantage in my 
intercourse with them ever since. 

In this second journey to Lepelole — so called from a 
cavern of that name — I began preparations for a settle- 
ment, by making a canal to irrigate gardens, from a stream 
then flowing copiously, but now quite dry. When these 
preparations were well advanced, I went northward to 
vi!=it the Bakaa and Bamangwato, and the Makalaka, living 
between 22° and 23° south latitude. The Bakaa Mountains 
had been visited before by a trader, who, with his people, 
all perished from fever. In going round the northern part 



APPEARANCES DECEITFUL. 19 

of these basaltic hills near Letloche I was only ten days 
distant from the lower part of the Souga, which passed by 
the same name as Lake Ngami; and 1 might then (iu 
1842) have discovered that lake, had discovery alone been 
my object. Most part of this journey beyond Shokuane 
ivas performed on foot, in consequence of the draught-oxen 
having become sick. Some of my companions who had 
recently joined us, and did not know that I understood a 
little of their speech, were overheard by me discussing my 
appearance and powers: "He is not strong; he is quite 
slim, and only appears stout because he puts himself into 
those bags, (trowsers :) he will soon knock up.'^ This 
caused my Highland blood to rise, and made me despise the 
fatigue of keeping them all at the top of their speed for 
days together, and until I heard them expressing proper 
opinions of my pedestrian powers. 

Ee turning to Kuruman, in order to bring my luggage 
to our proposed settlement, I was followed by the news 
that the tribe of Bakwains, who had shown themselves so 
friendly toward me, had been driven from Lepelole by the 
Barolongs, so that my prospects for the time of forming a 
settlement there were at an end. One of those periodical 
outbreaks of war, which seem to have occurred from time 
immemorial, for the possession of cattle, had burst forth in 
the land, and had so changed the relations of the tribes to 
each other that I was obliged to set out anew to look for 
a suitable locality for a mission-station. 

As some of the Bamangwato people had accompanied me 
to Kuruman, I was obliged to restore them and their goods 
to their chief Sekdmi. This made a journey to the residence 
of that chief again necessary, and, for the first time, I per- 
formed a distance of some hundred miles on ox-back. 

Eeturning toward Kuruman, I selected the beautiful 
valley of Mabotsa (lat. 25° 14' south, long. 26° 30' ?) as tho 
Bite of a missionary station, and thither I removed in 1843. 
Here an occurrence took place concerning which I have 
frequently been questioned in England, and which, but for 



20 RAVAGES OF LIONS. 

the importunities of friends, I meant to have kept in store 
Ko tell my children when in my dotapje. The Bakatla of 
Che village Mabotsa were much troubled by lions, which 
leaped into the cattle-pens by night and destroyed their 
oows. They even attacked the herds in open day. This 
was so unusual an occurrence that the people believed that 
they were bewitched, — "given," as they said, '^into the 
power of the lions by a neighboring tribe." They went 
once to attack the animals; but, being rather a cowardly 
people compared to Bechuanas in general on such occasions, 
they returned without killing any. 

It is well known that if one of a troop of lions is killed, 
the others take the hint and leave that part of the country. 
So, the next time the herds were attacked, I went with the 
people, in order to encourage them to rid themselves of the 
annoyance by destroj^ing one of the marauders. We found 
the lions on a small hill about a quarter of a mile in length 
and covered with trees. A circle of men was formed round 
it, and they gradually closed up, ascending pretty near to 
each other. Being down below on the plain with a native 
schoolmaster, named Mebalwe, a most excellent man, I saw 
one of the lions sitting on a piece of rock within the now 
closed circle of men. Mebalwe fired at him before I could, 
and the ball struck the rock on which the animal was 
sitting. He bit at the spot struck, as a dog does at a stick 
or stone thrown at him, then, leaping away, broke through 
the opening circle and escaped unhurt. The men were 
afraid to attack him, perhaps on account of their belief in 
witchcraft. "When the circle was reformed, we saw two 
other lions in it; but we were afraid to fire, lest we should 
strike the men, and they allowed the beasts to burst through 
also. If the Bakatla had acted according to the custom 
of the country, they would have speared the lions in their 
attempt to get out. Seeing we could not get them to kill 
one of the lions, we bent our footsteps toward the village : 
in going round the end of the hill, however, I saw one of 
the beasts sitting on a piece of rock as before, but this time 



A LION-ENCOUNTER. 21 

he had a little bush in fVont. Being about thirty yards oif, 
I took a good aim at his body through the bush, and fired 
both barrels into it. The men then called out, ^^He is shot! 
he is shot!" Others cried, "He has been shot by another 
man too ; let us go to him !" I did not see any one else 
shoot at him, but I saw the lion's tail erected in anger be- 
liind the bush, and, turning to the people, said, "Stop a 
little, till I load again." When in the act of ramming 
down the bullets, I heard a shout. Starting, and looking 
half round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon 
me. I was upon a little height; he caught my shoulder as 
he sprang, and we both came to the ground below together. 
Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier 
dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to 
that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake 
of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there 
was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though quite 
conscious of all that was happening. It was like what 
patients partially under the influence of chloroform de- 
scribe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. 
This singular condition was not the result of any mental 
process. The shake annihilated fear, and allowed no sense 
of horror in looking round at the beast. This peculiar 
state is probably produced in all animals killed by the car- 
nivora, and, if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent 
Creator for lessening the pain of death. Turning round 
to relieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw on the 
back of my head, I saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, who 
was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen 
yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels; 
the lion immediately left me, and, attacking Mebalwe, bit 
his thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved beforCj 
after he had been tossed by a buff'alo, attempted to spear 
the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He left Mebalwe 
and caught this man by the shoulder, but at that moment 
the bullets ke had received took effect, and he fell down 
dead. T/ "^ yhole was the work of a few moments, and 



22 SECHELE. 

must have been his paroxysms of dying rage. In order to 
take out the charm from him, the Bakatla on the following 
day made a huge bonfire over the carcass, which was de- 
clared to be that of the largest lion they had ever seen. 
Besides crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven 
teeth-wounds on the upper part of my arm. 

A wound from this animal's tooth resembles a gun-shot 
wound ; it is generally followed by a great deal of slough- 
ing and discharge, and pains are felt in the part periodically 
ever afterward. I had on a tartan jacket on the occasion, 
and I believe that it wiped oif all the virus from the teeth 
that pierced the flesh, for my two companions in this affray 
have both suffered from the peculiar pains, while I have 
escaped with only the inconvenience of a false joint in my 
limb. The man whose shoulder was wounded showed me 
his wound actually burst forth afresh on the same month 
of the following year. This curious point deserves the 
attention of inquirers. 

I attached myself to the tribe called Bakuena or Bak- 
wains, the chief of which, named Sechele, was then living 
with his people at a place called Shokuane. I was from 
the first struck by his intelligence, and by the marked 
manner in which we both felt drawn to each other. This 
remarkable man has not only embraced Christianity, but 
expounds its doctrines to his people. 

Sechele continued to make a consistent profession for 
about three years; and, perceiving at last some of the 
difliculties of his case, and also feeling compassion for the 
poor women, who were by far the best of our scholars, I had 
no desire that he should be in any hurry to make a full 
profession by baptism and putting aw^ay all his wives but 
one. His principal wife, too, was about the most unlikely 
(Subject in the tribe ever to become any thing else than an 
out-and-out greasy disciple of the old school. She has 
since become greatly altered, I hear, for the better ; but 
again and again have I seen Sechele send her out of church 
to put her gown on, and away she would go with her lips 



BAPTISM OP SECIIELE. 23 

shot out, the very picture of unutterable disgust at his 
new-fangled notions. 

When he at last applied for baptism, I simply asked him 
how he, having the Bible in his hand, and able to read it, 
thought he ought to act. He went home, gave each of his 
superfluous wives new clothing, and all his own goods, 
which they had been accustomed to keep in their huts 
for him, and sent them to their parents with an inti- 
mation that he had no fault to find with them, but that in 
parting with them he wished to follow the will of God. 
On the day on which he and his children were baptized, 
great numbers came to see the ceremony. Some thought, 
from a stupid calumny circulated by enemies to Chris- 
tianity in the south, that the converts would be made to 
drink an infusion of *'dead men's brains,'' and were asto- 
nished to find that water only was used at baptism. Seeing 
several of the old men actually in tears during the service, 
I asked them afterward the cause of their weeping ; they 
were crying to see their father, as the Scotch remark over 
a case of suicide, ^' so far left to himself.'' They seemed to 
think that I had thrown the glamour over him, and that 
he had become mine. Here commenced an opposition 
which we had not previously experienced. All the friends 
of the divorced wives became the opponents of our re- 
hgion. The attendance at school and church diminished 
to very few besides the chief's own family. They all 
treated us still with respectful kindness, but to Sechele 
himself they said things which, as he often remarked, had 
they ventured on in former times, would have cost them 
their lives. It was trying, after all we had done, to see 
our labors so little appreciated ; but we had sown the 
good seed, and have no doubt but it will yet spring up, 
though we may not live to see the fruits. 

Leaving this sketch of the chief, I proceed to give an 
equally rapid one of our dealing with his people, the Ba- 
kena, or Bakwains. A small piece of land, sufficient for a 
garden, was purchased when we first went to live with 



RELATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE. 25 

them, though that was scarcely necessary in a country 
where the idea of buying land was quite new. It was ex- 
pected that a request for a suitable spot would have been 
made, and that we should have proceeded to occupy it as 
any other member of the tribe would. But we explained 
to them that we wished to avoid any cause of future 
dispute when land had become more valuable ; or when a 
foolish chief began to reign, and we had erected large or 
expensive buildings, he might wish to claim the whole. 
These reasons were considered satisfactory. About £5 
worth of goods were given for a piece of land, and an ar- 
rangement was come to that a similar piece should be 
allotted to any other missionary, at any other place to 
Avhich the tribe might remove. The particulars of the 
Bale sounded strangely in the ears of the tribe, but were 
nevertheless readily agreed to. 

In our relations with this people we were simply 
strangers, exercising no authority or control whatever. 
Our influence depended entirely on persuasion ; and, having 
taught them by kind conversation as well as by public 
instruction, I expected them to do what their own sense 
of right and wrong dictated. We never wished them to 
do right merely because it would be pleasing to us, nor 
thought ourselves to blame when they did wrong, although 
we were quite aware of the absurd idea to that effect, 
We saw that our teaching did good to the general mind 
of the people by bringing new and better motives into 
play. Five instances are positively known to me in 
which, by our influence on public opinion, war was pre- 
vented ; and where, in individual cases, we failed, the peo- 
ple did no worse than they did before we came into the 
country. In general they were slow, like all the African 
people hereafter to be described, in coming to a decision 
on religious subjects; but in questions affecting their 
worldly aff'airs they were keenly alive to their own inte- 
rests. They might be called stupid in matters which had 
not com.e within the sphere of their observation, but in 

3 



25 THE IIOPO. 

other things they showed more intelligence than is to be 
met with in our own uneducated peasantry. They are 
'•emarkably accurate in their knowledge of cattle, phccp, 
and goats, knowing exactly the kind of pasturage suited 
to each; and they select with great judgment the varieties 
of soil best suited to different kinds of grain. They are 
also familiar with the habits of wild animals, and in 
general are well up in the maxims which embody their 
ideas of political wisdom. 

The place where wo first settled with the Bakwains is 
called Chonuane, and it happened to be visited, during the 
first year of our residence there, by one of those droughts 
which occur from time to time in even the most favored 
districts of Africa. 

The conduct of the people during this long-continued 
drought was remarkably good. The women parted with 
most of their ornaments to purchase corn from more for- 
tunate tribes. The children scoured the country in search 
of the numerous bulbs and roots which can sustain life, 
and the men engaged in hunting. Very great numbers of 
the large game, bullaloes, zebras, giraffes, tsessebes, kamas 
or hartebeests, kokongs or gnus, pallahs, rhinoceroses, &c., 
congregated at some fountains near Kolobeng, and the trap 
called ^^hopo" was constructed, in the lands adjacent, for 
their destruction. The hopo consists of two hedges in the 
form of the letter V, which are ver}'^ high and thick near 
the angle. Instead of the hedges being joined there, they 
are made to form a lane of about fifty yards in length, at 
the extremity of which a pit is formed, six or eight feet 
deep, and about twelve or fifteen in breadth and length. 
Trunks of trees are laid across the margin of the pit, and 
more especially over that nearest the lane where the ani- 
mals are expected to leap in, and over that farthest from 
the lane where it is supposed they will attempt to escape 
after they are in. The trees form an overlapping border, 
and render escape almost impossible. The whole is care- 
fully decked with short green rushes, making the pit liko 



28 THE BOERS 

a concealed pitfall. As the hedges are frequently about a 
mile long, and about as much apart at their extremities, a 
tribe making a circle three or four miles round the country- 
adjacent to the opening, and gradually closing up, are 
almost sure to enclose a large body of game. Driving it up 
with shouts to the narrow part of the hopo, men secreted 
there throw their javelins into the affrighted herds, and on 
the animals rush to the opening presented at the con- 
verging hedges, and into the pit, till that is full of a living 
mass. Some escape by running over the others, as a 
Smithfield market-dog does over the sheep's backs. It is a 
frightful scene. The men, wild with excitement, spear the 
lovely animals with mad delight; others of the poor crea- 
tures, borne down by the weight of their dead and dying 
companions, every now and then make the whole mass 
heave in their smothering agonies. 

The Bakwains often killed between sixty and seventy 
head of large game at the different hopos in a single week; 
and as every one, both rich and poor, partook of the prey, 
the meat counteracted the bad effects of an exclusively 
vegetable diet. 



CHAPTER II. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE PREPARES TO GO TO LAKE NGAMl. 

Another adverse influence with which the mission 
had to contend was the vicinity of the Boers of the 
Cashan Mountains, otherwise named " Magaliesberg." 
These are not to be confounded with the Cape colonists, 
who sometimes pass by the name. The word Boer simply 
means "farmer,^' and is not synonymous with our word 
boor. Indeed, to the Boers generally the latter term 
Would be quite inappropriate, for they are a sober, indus- 
trious, and most hospitable body of peasantry. Those, how- 



TREATMENT OF NATIVES BY BOERS. 29 

ever, who have fled from English law on various pretexts, 
and have been joined by English deserters and every other 
variety of bad character in their distant localities, are 
unfortunately of a very diiferent stamp. The great ob- 
jection many of the Boers had, and still have, to English 
law, is that it makes no distinction betw^een black men 
and white. They felt aggrieved by their supposed losses 
in the emancipation of their Hottentot slaves, and deter- 
mined to erect themselves into a republic, in which they 
might pursue, without molestation, the ^'proper treatment 
of the blacks.'' It is almost needless to add that the 
" proper treatment" has always contained in it the essen- 
tial element of slavery, namely, compulsory unpaid labor. 

One section of this body, under the late Mr. Hendrick 
Potgeiter, penetrated the interior as far as the Cashan 
Mountains, whence a Zulu or Caffre chief, named Mosili- 
katze, had been expelled by the well-known Caffre Din- 
gaan j* and a glad welcome was given them b}'- the Be- 
chuana tribes, who had just escaped the hard sway of that 
cruel chieftain. They came with the prestige of white 
men and deliverers; but the Bechuanas soon found, as 
they expressed it, " that Mosilikatze was cruel to his 
enemies, and kind to those he conquered; but that the 
Boers destroyed their enemies, and made slaves of their 
friends.'' The tribes who still retain the semblance of 
independence are forced to perform all the labor of the 
fields, such as manuring the land, weeding, reaping, building, 

* Dingaan was the brother and successor of Chaka, the most cruel and 
bloodthirsty tyrant that ever disgraced the soil of Africa. He had formed 
bis tribe into a military organization and ravaged all the neighboring 
tribes; but his horrible cruelties to his own subjects led to a revolt, 
headed by Diugaan and XJmslungani, his two elder brothers, who first 
attacked him with spears, wounding him in the back. Chaka was en- 
veloped in a blanket, which he cast off and fled. He was overtaken and 
again wounded. Falling at the feet of his pursuers, he besought them in 
the most abject terms to let him live, that he might be their slave ; but h© 

was instantly speared to death. — Am. Ed 

3* 



30 THE BOERS MAKE WAR ON THE BAKWAINS. 

making dams and canals, and at the same time to support 
themselves. I have myself been an eye-witness of Boers 
coming to a village, and, according to their usual custom, 
demanding twenty or thirty women to weed their gardens, 
and have seen these women proceed to the scene of unre- 
quited toil, carrying their own food on their heads, their 
children on their backs, and instruments of labor on their 
shoulders. 'Nor have the Boers any wish to conceal the 
meanness of thus employing unpaid labor: on the contrary, 
every one of them, from Mr. Potgeiter and Mr. Gert 
Krieger, the commandants, downward, lauded his own 
humanity and justice in making such an equitable regula- 
tion. ^' "We make the people work for us, in consideration 
of allowing them to live in our country." 

The Boers determined to put a stop to English traders 
going past Kolobeng, by dispersing the tribe of Bakwains 
and expelling all the missionaries. Sir George Cathcart 
proclaimed the independence of the Boers, the best thing 
that could have been done had they been between us and 
the Caffres. A treaty was entered into with these Boers; 
an article for the free passage of Englishmen to the coun- 
try beyond, and also another, that no slavery should be 
allowed in the independent territory, were duly inserted, 
as expressive of the views of her majesty's government at 
home. ^' But what about the missionaries ?" inquired the 
Boers. " You may do as you please with them," is said to 
have been the answer of the " Commissioner.'^ This re- 
mark, if uttered at all, was probably made in joke : design- 
ing men, however, circulated it, and caused the general 
belief in its accuracy which now prevails all over the coun- 
try, and doubtless led to the destruction of three mission- 
stations immediately after. The Boers, four hundred in 
number, were sent by the late Mr. Pretorius to attack the 
Bakwains in 1852. Boasting that the English had given 
up all the blacks into their power, and had agreed to aid 
them in their subjugation by preventing all supplies of 
ammunition from coming into the Bechuana country, they 



HOSTILITY OF THE BOERS. 31 

assaulted the Bak wains, and, besides killing a considerablo 
number of adults, carried off two hundred of our school- 
children into slavery. The natives under Sechele defended 
themselves till the approach of night enabled them to flee 
to the mountains; and having in that defence killed a 
number of the enemy, the very first ever slain in this coun- 
try by Bechuanas, I received the credit of having taught 
the tribe to kill Boers ! My house, which had stood per- 
fectly secure for years under the protection of the natives, 
was plundered in revenge. English gentlemen, who had 
come in the footsteps of Mr. Gumming to hunt in the coun- 
try beyond, and had deposited large quantities of stores in 
the same keeping, and upward of eighty head of cattle as 
relays for the return journeys, were robbed of all, and, 
when they came back to Kolobeng, found the skeletons of 
the guardians strewed all over the place. The books of a 
good library — my solace in our solitude — were not taken 
away, but handfuls of the leaves were torn out and scat- 
tered over the place. My stock of medicines was smashed, 
and all our furniture and clothing carried off and sold at 
public auction to pay the expenses of the foray. 

In trying to benefit the tribes living under the Boers of 
the Cashan Mountains, I twice performed a journey of about 
three hundred miles to the eastward of Kolobeng. Sechele 
had become so obnoxious to the Boers that, though anxious 
to accompany me in my journey, he dared not trust him- 
self among them. This did not arise from the crime of 
cattle-stealing; for that crime, so common among the 
Caffres, was never charged against his tribe, nor, indeed, 
against any Bechuana tribe. It is, in fact, unknown in the 
country, except during actual warfare. His independence 
and love of the English were his only faults. In my last 
journey there, of about two hundred miles, on parting at 
the river Marikwe he gave me two servants, " to be,'^ as 
he said, ^' his arms to serve me,'' and expressed regret that 
he could not come himself. " Suppose we went north," I 
Baid, ^' would you come ?" He then told me the story of 



32 PREPARING TO CROSS THE DESERT. 

Bebituane having saved his life, and expatiated on the far 
famed generosity of that really great man. This was the 
first time I had thought of crossing the Desert to Lake 
Ngami. 

The conduct of the Boers, who had sent a letter designed 
to procure my removal out of the country, and their well- 
known settled policy which I have already described, be- 
came more fully developed on this than on any former 
occasion. When I spoke to Mr. Hendrick Potgeiter of the 
danger of hindering the gospel of Christ among these poor 
savages, he became greatly excited, and called one of his 
followers to answer me. He threatened to attack any tribe 
that might receive a native teacher ; yet he promised to use 
his influence to prevent those under him from throwing 
obstacles in our way. I could perceive plainly that nothing 
more could be done in that direction, so I commenced col- 
lecting all the information I could about the desert, with 
the intention of crossing it, if possible. Sekomi, the chief 
of the Bamangwato, w^as acquainted with a route which 
he kept carefully to himself, because the Lake country 
abounded in ivory, and he drew large quantities thence 
periodically at but small cost to himself. 

Sechele, who valued highly every thing European, and 
was always fully alive to his own interest, was naturally 
anxious to get a share of that inviting field. He was most 
anxious to visit Sebituane too, partly, perhaps, from a wish 
to show off his new acquirements, but chiefly, I believe, 
from having very exalted ideas of the benefits he would 
derive from the liberality of that renowned chieftain. 

Sechele, by my advice, sent men to Sekomi, asking leave 
for me to pass along his path, accompanying the request 
with the present of an ox. Sekomi's mother, who possesses 
great influence over him, refused permission, because she 
had not been propitiated. This produced a fresh message; 
and the most honorable man in the Bakwain tribe, next 
to Sechele, was sent with an ox for both Sekomi and his 
mother. This, too, was met by refusal. It was said, 



PRErARIXa TO CROSS THE DESERT. 33 

' The Matebele, the mortal enemies of the Bechuanas, are 
in the direction of the lake, and, should they kill the white 
man, "we shall incur great blame from all his nation." 

The exact position of the Lake iS'gami had, for half a 
century at least, beeu correctly pointed out by the natives, 
who had visited it when rains were more copious in the 
Desert than in more recent times, and many attempts had 
been made to reach it by passing through the Desert in the 
direction indicated; but it was found impossible, even for 
Griquas, who, having some Bushman blood in them, may 
be supposed more capable of enduring thirst than Euro- 
peans. It was clear, then, that our only chance of suc- 
cess was by going round, instead of through, the Desert. 
The best time for the attempt would have been about the 
end of the rainy season, in March or April, for then we 
should have been likely to meet with pools of rain-water, 
which always dry up during the rainless winter. I com- 
municated my intention to an African traveller, Colonel 
Steele, then aide-de-camp to the Marquis of Tweedale at 
Madras, and he made it known to two other gentlemen, 
whose friendship we had gained during their African travel, 
namely. Major Yardon and ^Mr. Oswell. All of these gentle- 
men were so enamored with African hunting and African 
discovery that the two former must have envied the latter 
his good fortune in being able to leave India to undertake 
afresh the pleasures and pains of desert life. I believe Mr. 
Oswell came from his high position at a very considerable 
pecuniary sacrifice, and with no other end in view but to 
extend the boundaries of geographical knowledge. Before 
I knew of his coming, I had arranged that the payment 
of the guides furnished by Sechele should be the loan of 
my wagon to bring back whatever ivory he might obtain 
from the chief at the lake. When, at last, Mr. Oswell 
came, bringing Mr. Murray with him, he undertook to 
defray the entire expense of the guides, and fully executed 
bis generous intention. 

Sechele himself would have come with us, but, fearing 
G 



S4 DEPARTURE FROM K0L0BEN3. 

that the much-talked-of assault of the Boers might take 
place during our absence, and blame be attached to me for 
taking him away, I dissuaded him against it by saying that 
he knew Mr. Oswell ^* would be as determined as himself 
to get through the Desert." 



CHAPTEK III. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE DISCOVERS LAKE NGAMI. 

Just before the arrival of my companions, a party of the 
people of the lake came to Kolobeng, stating that they 
were sent by Lechulatebe, the chief, to ask me to visit 
that country. They brought such flaming accounts of the 
quantities of ivory to be found there, (cattle-pens made of 
elephants' tusks of enormous size, &c.,) that the guides of 
the Bakwains were quite as eager to succeed in reaching 
the lake as any one of us could desire. This was fortunate, 
as we knew the way the strangers had come was impass- 
able for wagons. 

Messrs. Oswell and Murray came at the end of May, and 
we all made a fair start for the unknown region on the 1st 
of June, 1849. Proceeding northward, and passing through 
a range of tree-covered hills to Shokuane, formerly the re- 
sidence of the Bakwains, we soon after entered on the high 
road to the Bamangwato, which lies generally in the bed 
of an ancient river or wady that must formerly have flowed 
N. to S. 

Boatlanama, our next station, is a lovely spot in the 
otherwise dry region. The wells from which we had to 
lift out the water for our cattle are deep, but they were 
well filled. A few villages of Bakalahari were found near 
them, and great numbers of pallahs, springbucks. Guinea- 
fowl, and small monkeys. 

Lopepe came next This place afforded another proof 



& 



a 









Si 



60 




36 MESSAGE FROM SEKOMI. 

of the desiccation of the countrj^ The first time I passed 
it, Lopepe was a large pool with a stream flowing out of it 
to the south; now it was with difficulty we could get our 
cattle watered by digging down in the bottom of a well. 

At Mashiie — where we found a never-failing supply of 
pure water in a sandstone rocky hollow — we left the road 
to the Bamangwato Hills, and struck away to the north 
into the Desert. Having watered the cattle at a well called 
Lobotani, about N. W. of Bamangwato, we next proceeded 
to a real Kalahari fountain, called Serotli. 

In the evening of our second day at Serotli, a hyena, 
appearing suddenly among the grass, succeeded in raising 
a panic among our cattle. This false mode of attack is 
the plan which this cowardly animal alwaj's adopts. His 
courage resembles closely that of a turkey-cock. He will 
bite if an animal is running away ; but if the animal stand 
still, so does he. Seventeen of our draught-oxen ran away, 
and in their flight went right into the hands of Sekomi, 
whom, from his being unfriendly to our success, we had no 
particular wish to see. Cattle-stealing, such as in the cir- 
cumstances might have occurred in Caifraria, is here un- 
known; so Sekomi sent back our oxen, and a message 
strongly dissuading us against attempting the Desert. 
*' Where are you going? You will be killed by the sun 
and thirst, and then all the white men will blame me for 
not saving you." This was backed by a private message 
from his mother. '' Why do you pass me ? I always made 
the people collect to hear the word that you have got. 
What guilt have I, that you pass without looking at me ?" 
We replied by assuring the messengers that the white men 
would attribute our deaths to our own stupidity and "hard- 
headedness," (tlogo, e thata,) "as we did not intend to 
allow our companions and guides to return till they had 
put us into our graves." We sent a handsome present to 
Sekomi, and a promise that, if he allowed the Bakalahari 
to keep the wells open for us, we would repeat the gift on 
our return. 



D1SC0^'ERY OF WATER. 37 

AAer exhausting all his eloquence in fruitless attempts 
to persuade us to return, the under-chief) who headed the 
party of Sekomi's messengers, inquired, " Who is taking 
them?'* Looking round, he exclaimed, with a face ex- 
pressive of the most unfeigned disgust, "It is Ramotobi !" 
Our guide belonged to Sekomi's tribe, but had fled to 
Sechele; as fugitives in this country are always well re- 
ceived, and may even afterward visit the tribe from which 
they had escaped, Eamotobi was in no danger, though doing 
that which he knew to be directly opposed to the interests 
of his own chief and tribe. 

For sixty or seventy miles beyond Serotli, one clump of 
bushes and trees seemed exactly like another; but, as we 
walked together this morning, Ramotobi remarked, "When 
we come to that hollow we shall light upon the highway 
of Sekomi; and beyond that again lies the river Mokoko;" 
which, though we passed along it, I could not perceive to 
be a river-bed at all. 

After breakfast, some of the men, who had gone forward 
on a little path with some footprints of water-loving 
animals upon it, returned with the joyful tidings of 
^'metse," water, exhibiting the mud on their knees in con- 
firmation of the news being true. It does one's heart good 
to see the thirsty oxen rush into a pool of delicious rain- 
water, as this was. In they dash until the water is deep 
enough to be nearly level with their throat, and then they 
stand drawing slowly in the long, refreshing mouthfuls, 
until their formerly collapsed sides distend as if they would 
burst. So much do they imbibe, that a sudden jerk, when 
they come out on the bank, makes some of the water run 
out again from their mouths ; but, as they have been days 
without food too, they very soon commence to graze, and 
of grass there is always abundance everywhere. This 
pool was called Mathuluana; and thankful we were to have 
obtained so welcome a supply of water. 

After giving the cattle a rest at this spot, we proceeded 
down the dry bed of the river Mokoko. 



88 SALT-PANS. 

At Nchokotsa we came upon the first of a great number 
of salt-pans, covered with an efflorescence of lime, probably 
the nitrate. A thick belt of mopane-trees (a Bauhinia) 
hides this salt-pan, which is twenty miles in circumference, 
entirely from the view of a person coming from the south- 
east; and, at the time the pan burst upon our view, the 
setting sun was casting a beautiful blue haze over the white 
incrustations, making the whole look exactly like a lake. 
Oswell threw his hat up in the air at the sight, and shouted 
out a huzza which made the poor Bushwoman and the 
Bakwains think him mad. I was a little behind him, and 
was as completely deceived by it as he; but, as we had 
agreed to allow each other to behold the lake at the same 
instant, I felt a little chagrined that he had, unintentionally, 
got the first glance. We had no idea that the long-looked- 
for lake was still more than three hundred miles distant. 
One reason of our mistake was that the river Zouga was 
often spoken of by the same name as the lake, — viz. : Noka 
ea Batletli, C'Eiver of the Batletli.'') 

On the 4th of July we went forward on horseback toward 
what we supposed to be the lake, and again and again did 
we seem to see it; but at last we came to the veritable 
water of the Zouga, and found it to be a river running to 
the N.E. A village of Bakurutse lay on the opposite bank; 
these live among Batletli, a tribe having a click in their 
Junguage, and who were found by Sebituane to possess large 
herds of the great horned cattle. They seem allied to the 
Hottentot family. Mr. Oswell, in trying to cross the river, 
got his horse bogged in the swampy bank. Two Bakwains 
and I managed to get over by wading beside a fishing-weir. 
The people were friendly, and informed us that this water 
came out of JSTgami. This news gladdened all our hearts, 
for we now felt certain of reaching our goal. We might, 
they said, be a moon on the way : but we had the river 
Zouga at our feet, and by following it we should at last 
reach the broad water. 

Next day, when we were quite disposed to be friendly 



THE ZOUGA. 



9^ 



with every one, two of the Bamangwato, who had been 
sent on before us by Sekomi to drive away all the Bushmen 
and Bakalahari from our path, so that they should not 
assist or guide us, came and sat down by our fire. We had 
seen their footsteps fresh in the way, and they had watched 
our slow movements forward, and wondered to see how we, 
without any Bushmen, found our way to the waters. This 
was the first time they had seen Eamotobi. ^'You have 
reached the river now,'' said they; and we, quite disposed 
to laugh at having won the game, felt no ill-will to any one. 
They seemed to feel no enmity to us, either; but, after an 
apparently friendly conversation, proceeded to fulfil to the 
last the instructions of their chief Ascending the Zouga 
in our front, they circulated the report that our object was 
to plunder all the tribes living on the river and lake; but 
when they had got half-way up the river, the principal man 
sickened of fever, turned back some distance, and died. 
His death had a good effect, for the villagers connected it 
with the injury he was attempting to do us. They all saw 
through Sekomi's reasons for wishing us to fail in our at- 
tempt; and, though they came to us at first armed, kind 
and fair treatment soon produced perfect confidence. 

"When we had gone up the bank of this beautiful river 
about ninety-six miles from the point where we first struck 
it, and understood that we were still a considerable distance 
from the Ngami, we left all the oxen and wagons, except 
Mr. Oswell's, which was the smallest, and one team, at 
Ngabisane, in the hope that they would be recruited for the 
home journey, while wo made a push for the lake. The 
Bechuana chief of the Lake region, who had sent men to 
Sechele, now sent orders to all the people on the river to 
assist us, and we were received by the Bakoba, whose lan- 
guage clearly shows that they bear an affinity to the tribes in 
the north. They call themselves Bayeiye, i.e. men ; but the 
Bechuanas call them Bakoba, which contains somewhat of 
the idea of slaves. They have never been known to fight, 
and, indeed, have a tradition that their forefathers, in their 



40 DISCOVERY OP LAKE NGAMT. 

first essays at war, made their bows of the Palm a Christi, 
and, when these broke, they gave up fighting altogether. 
They have invariably submitted to the rule of every horde 
which has overrun the countries adjacent to the rivers on 
which they specially love to dwell. They are thus the 
Quakers of the body politic in Africa. 

Twelve days after our departure from the wagons at 
Ngabisane we came to the northeast end of Lake Ngami; 
and on the Ist of August, 1849, we went down together to 
the broad part, and, for the first time, this fine-looking 
sheet of water was beheld by Europeans. The direction 
of the lake seemed to be N.N.E. and S.S.W. by compass. 
The southern portion is said to bend round to the west, and 
to receive the Teoughe from the north at its northwest 
extremity. We could detect no horizon where we stood 
looking S.S.W., nor could we form any idea of the extent 
of the lake, except from the reports of the inhabitants of 
the district; and, as they professed to go round it in three 
days, allowing twenty-five miles a day would make it 
seventy-five, or less than seventy geographical miles in cir- 
cumference. Other guesses have been made since as to its 
circumference, ranging between seventy and one hundred 
miles. It is shallow, for I subsequently saw a native punt- 
ing his canoe over seven or eight miles of the northeast 
end ; it can never, therefore, be of much value as a com- 
mercial highway. In fact, during the months preceding 
the annual supply of water from the north, the lake is so 
shallow that it is with difficulty cattle can approach the 
water through the boggy, reedy banks. These are low on 
all sides, but on the west there is a space devoid of trees, 
showing that the waters have retired thence at no very 
ancient date. This is another of the proofs of desiccation 
met with so abundantly throughout the whole country. A 
number of dead trees lie on this space, some of them em- 
bedded in the mud, right in the water. We were informed 
by the Bayeiye, who live on the lake, that when the annual 
inundation begins, not only trees of great size, but ante- 



o 
Si 



.*>■ 
^ 



^ 



O 

Co 



a 

^ 
&. 

N 
?" 

^ 
^ 




42 THE NGAMI. 

lopes, as the springbuck and tsessebe, {Acronotus lunata,) are 
Bwept down by its rushing waters ; the trees are gradually 
driven by the winds to the opposite side, and become em- 
bedded in the mud. 

The water of the lake is perfectly fresh when full, but 
brackish when low ; and that coming down the Tamunak'lo 
we found to be so clear, cold, and soft, the higher we 
asc'^nded, that the idea of melting snow was suggested to 
our minds. We found this region, with regard to that from 
which we had come, to be clearly a hollow, the lowest 
point being Lake Kumadau ; the point of the ebullition of 
water, as shown by one of Newman's barometric thermome- 
ters, was only between 2071° and 206°, giving an elevation 
of not much more than two thousand feet above the level of 
the sea. We had descended above two thousand feet in 
coming to it from Kolobeng. It is the southern and lowest 
part of the great river-system beyond, in which large tracts 
of country are inundated annually by tropical rains. 

My chief object in coming to the lake was to visit Sebi- 
tuane, the great chief of the Makololo, who was reported 
to live some two hundred miles beyond. We had now 
come to a half-tribe of the Bamangwato, called Batauana. 
Their chief was a young man named Lechulatebe. Sebi- 
tuane had conquered his father Moremi, and Lechulatebe 
received part of his education while a captive among the 
Bayeiye. His uncle, a sensible man, ransomed him, and, 
having collected a number of families together, abdicated 
the chieftainship in favor of his nephew. As Lechulatebe 
had just come into power, he imagined that the proper 
way of showing his abilities was to act directly contrary 
to every thing that his uncle advised. When we came, the 
uncle recommended him to treat us handsomely : therefore 
the hopeful youth presented us with a goat only. It ought 
to have been an ox. So I proposed to my companions to 
loose the animal and let him go, as a hint to his master. 
They, however, did not wish to insult him. I, being more 
of a native, and familiar with their customs, knew that 



THE BAMANGWATO AND THEIR CHIEF. 43 

this shabby present was an insult to us. "We wished to 
purchase some goats or oxen ; Lechulatebe offered us ele- 
phants' tusks. "No, we cannot eat these; we want some- 
thing to fill our stomachs." " Neither can I ; but I hear 
you white men are all very fond of these bones; so I offer 
them : I want to put the goats into my own stomach.'* A 
trader, who accompanied us, was then purchasing ivory 
at the rate of ten good large tusks for a musket worth 
thirteen shillings. They were called " bones ;*' and I 
myself saw eight instances in which the tusks had been 
left to rot with the other bones where the elephant fell. The 
Batauana never had a chance of a market before ; but, in 
less than two years after our discovery, not a man of them 
could be found who was not keenly alive to the great value 
of the article. 

On the day after our arrival at the lake, I applied to 
Lechulatebe for guides to Sebituane. As he was much 
afraid of that chief, he objected, fearing lest other white 
men should go thither also, and give Sebituane guns; 
whereas, if the traders came to him alone, the possession 
of fire-arms would give him such a superiority that Sebi- 
tuane would be afraid of him. It was in vain to explain 
that I would inculcate peace between them, — that Sebi- 
tuane had been a father to him and Sechele, and was as 
anxious to see me as he, Lechulatebe, had been. He 
offered to give me as much ivory as I needed without 
going to that chief; but, when I refused to take any, he 
unwillingly consented to give me guides. Next day, how- 
ever, when Oswell and I were prepared to start, with the 
horses only, we received a senseless refusal; and like Se- 
komi, who had thrown obstacles in our way, he sent men 
to the Bayeiye with orders to refuse us a passage across 
the river. Trying hard to form a raft at a narrow part, I 
worked many hours in the water ; but the dry wood was 
so worm-eaten it would not bear the weight of a single 
person. I was not then aware of the number of alligators 
which exist in the Zouga, and never think of my labor in 



44 START FOR THE COUNTRY OF SEBITUANE. 

the water without feeling thankful that I escaped their 
jaws. The season was now far advanced; and as Mr. Os« 
well, with his wonted generous feelings, volunteered, on 
the spot, to go down to the Cape and bring up a boat, we 
resolved to make our way south again. 



CHAPTER IV. 



DR. LIVINGSTONE PERFORMS TWO JOURNEYS IN THE INTERIOR 
AND DISCOVERS THE RIVER ZAMBESI — HE SENDS HIS 
FAMILY TO ENGLAND. 

Having returned to Kolobeng, I remained there till 
April, 1850, and then left in company with Mrs. Living- 
stone, our three children, and the chief Sechele, — who had 
now bought a wagon of his own, — in order to go across the 
Zouga at its lower end, with the intention of proceeding 
up the northern bank till we gained the Tamunak'le, and 
of then ascending that river to visit Sebituane in the north. 
Sekomi had given orders to fill up the wells which we had 
dug with much labor at Serotli; so we took the more 
eastern route through the Bamangwato town and by 
Letloche. That chief asked why I had avoided him in our 
former journeys. I replied that my reason was that I 
knew he did not wish me to go to the lake, and I did not 
want to quarrel with him. "Well,*' he said, "you beat 
me then, and I am content." 

Parting with Sechele at the ford, as he was eager to 
visit Lechulatebe, we went along the northern woody 
bank of the Zouga with great labor, having to cut down 
very many trees to allow the wagons to pass. Our losses 
by oxen falling into pitfalls were very heavy. The Ba- 
yeiye kindly opened the pits when they knew of our ap- 



GUIDES OBTAINED FROM LECHULATEBE. 45 

proach ; but, when that was not the case, we could blame 
no one on finding an established custom of the country- 
inimical to our interests. On approaching the confluence 
of the Tamunak'le we were informed that the fly called 
tsetse* abounded on its banks. This was a barrier we 
never expected to meet; and, as it might have brought 
our wagons to a complete stand-still in a wilderness, 
where no supplies for the children could be obtained, 
we were reluctantly compelled to recross the Zouga. 

From the Bayeiye we learned that a party of English- 
men, who had come to the lake in search of ivory, were 
all laid low by fever; so we travelled hastily down about 
sixty miles to render what aid was in our power. We 
were grieved to find, as we came near, that Mr. Alfred 
Eider, an enterprising young artist who had come to 
make sketches of this country and of the lake immediately 
after its discovery, had died of fever before our arrival; 
but, by the aid of medicines and such comforts as could be 
made by the only English lady who ever visited the lake, 
the others happily recovered. 

Sechele used all his powers of eloquence with Lechula- 
tebe to induce him to furnish guides, that I might be able 
to visit Sebituane on ox-back, while Mrs. Livingstone and 
the children remained at Lake Ngami. He yielded at 
last. I had a very superior London-made gun, the gift of 
Lieutenant Arkwright, on which I placed the greatest 
value, both on account of the donor and the impossibility 
of my replacing it. Lechulatebe fell violently in love with 
it, and offered whatever number of elephants' tusks I might 
ask for it. I too was enamored with Sebituane ; and, as he 
promised in addition that he would furnish Mrs. Living- 
stone with meat all the time of my absence, his argu- 
ments made me part with the gun. Though he had no 
ivory at the time to pay me, I felt the piece would be well 

* Glossina morsitans, the first specimens of which -were brotight to 
England in 1848 by my friend Major Vardon, from the banks of the 
Limpopo. 



40 MR. oswell's hunting. 

Bpont on those terms, and delivered it to him. All being 
ready for our depurture, I took Mrs. Livingstone about six 
miles from the town, that she might have a peep at the 
broad ]>art ot* the lake. I^ext morning we had other work 
to do than part, for our little boy and girl were seized 
with fever. On the day following, all our servants wore 
down too with the same complaint. As nothing is better 
in these cases than change of place, 1 was forced to give 
np the hope of seeing Sobituane that year; so, leaving my 
gun as part payment for guides next year, we started for 
the pure air of the Desert. 

Son\e mistake had happened in the arrangement with 
!Mr. Oswell, for we met him on the Zouga on our return, 
and he had devoted the rest of this season to elephant- 
hunting, at which the natives universally declare he is the 
greatest adept that over came into the country. He hunted 
without dogs. It is remarkable that this lordly animal 
is so completely harassed by the presence of a few yelp- 
ing curs as to be quite incapable of attending to man. Ho 
makes awkward attempts to crush them by falling on his 
knees, and sometimes places his forehead against a tree 
ten inches in diameter; glancing on one side of the tree 
and then on the other, he pushes it down before him, aa 
if he thought thereby to catch his enemies. The only 
danger the huntsman has to apprehend is the dogs' run- 
iiing toward him, and thereby leading the elephant to 
their master. Mr. Oswell has been known to kill four 
large old male elephants a day. The value of the ivory in 
these cases would be one hundred guineas. AVo had reason 
to be proud of his success, for the inhabitants conceived 
from it a very high idea of English courage, and when 
they wished to flatter me would say, '*lf you were not a 
missionary you would just be like Oswell; you would not 
hunt with dogs either." "When, in 1S52, we came to the 
Cape, my black coat eleven years out of fashion, and with- 
out a penny of salary to di-aw, we found that Mr. Oswell 
had most geuei*ously ordered an out tit for the half-naked 



NCnOKOTSA. 47 

children, which cost about £200, and presented it to ub, 
Baying he thought Mrs. Livingstone had a right to the 
game of her own preserves. 

Foiled in this second attempt to reach Sebituane, we 
returned again to Kolobeng, whilher we were soon followed 
by a number of messengers from that chief himself When 
he heard of our attempts to visit him, he despatched three 
detachments of his men with thirteen brown cows to 
Lcchulatebe, thirteen white cows to Sekomi, and thirteen 
black cows to Sechele, with a request to each to assist the 
white men to reach him. Their policy, however, was to 
keep him out of view, and act as his agents in purchasing 
with his \Yory the goods he wanted. This is thoroughly 
African; and that continent being without friths and arms 
of the sea, the tribes in the centre have always been de- 
barred from European intercourse by its universal preva- 
lence among all the people around the coasts. 

Before setting out on our third journey to Sebituane, it 
was necessary to visit Kururnan; and Sechele, eager, for 
the sake of the commission thereon, to get the ivory of 
that chief into his own hands, allowed all the messengers 
to leave before our return. Sekomi, however, was more 
than usually gracious, and even furnished us with a guide, 
but no one knew the path beyond Nchokotsa which we 
intended to follow. When we reached that point, we found 
that the mainspring of the gun of another of his men, 
who was well acquainted with the Bushmen, through whoso 
country we should pass, had opportunely broken. I never 
undertook to mend a gun with greater zest than this; for, 
under promise of his guidance, we went to the north in- 
stead of westward- All the other guides were most libe- 
rally rewarded by Mt. Oswell. 

We passed quickly over a hard country, which is perfectly 
flat. A little soil lying on calcareous tufa, over a tract of 
several hundreds of miles, supports a vegetation of fine, 
Bweet short grass, and rnopane and baobab trees. 

We found a great number of wells in this tufa. A piaffe 



4S THE GUIDE SHOBO. 

called Matlomagan-yana, or the "Links," is quite a chain 
of these never-failing springs. As they occasionally be- 
come full in seasons when no rain falls, and resemble some- 
what in this respect the rivers we have already mentioned, 
it is probable they receive some water by percolation from 
the river-system in the country beyond. Among these 
links we found many families of Bushmen; and, unlike 
those on the plains of the Kalahari, who are generally of 
short stature and light yellow color, these were tall, strap- 
ping fellows, of dark complexion. Heat alone does not 
produce blackness of skin, but heat with moisture seems 
to insure the deepest hue. 

One of these Bushmen, named Shobo, consented to be our 
guide over the waste between these springs and the country 
of Sebituane. Shobo gave us no hope of water in less than 
a month. Providentially, however, we came sooner than 
we expected to some supplies of rain-water in a chain of 
pools. It is impossible to convey an idea of the dreary 
scene on which we entered after leaving this spot : the only 
vegetation was a low scrub in deep sand ; not a bird or in- 
sect enlivened the landscape. It was, without exception, 
the most uninviting prospect I ever beheld ; and, to make 
matters worse, our guide Shobo wandered on the second 
day. We coaxed him on at night, but he went to all points 
of the compass on the trails of elephants which had been 
here in the rainy season, and then would sit down in the 
path, and in his broken Sichuana say, "No water, all 
country only; Shobo sleeps; he breaks down; country 
only," and then coolly curl himself up and go to sleep. 
The oxen were terribly fatigued and thirsty; and, on the 
morning of the fourth day, Shobo, after professing igno- 
rance of every thing, vanished altogether. We went on in 
the direction in which we last saw him, and about eleven 
o'clock began to see birds; then the trail of a rhinoceros. 
At this we unyoked the oxen, and they, apparently know- 
ing the sign, rushed along to find the water in the river 
Mahabe, which comes from the Tamunak'le, and lay to the 



THE BANAJOA. 49 

west of us. The supply of water in the wagons had been 
wasted by one of our servants, and by the afternoon only 
a small portion remained for the children. This was a bit- 
terly anxious night; and next morning the less there was 
of water the more thirsty the little rogues became. The 
idea of their perishing before our eyes was terrible. It 
would almost have been a relief to me to have been re- 
proached with being the entire cause of the catastrophe ; 
but not one syllable of upbraiding Avas uttered by their 
mother, though the tearful eye told the agony within. In 
the afternoon of the fifth day, to our inexpressible relief, 
some of the men returned with a supply of that fluid of 
which we had never before felt the true value. 

The cattle, in rushing along to the water in the Mahabe, 
probably crossed a small patch of trees containing tsetse, 
an insect which was shortly to become a perfect pest to us. 
Shobo had found his way to the Bayeiye, and appeared; 
"when we came up to the river, at the head of a party; 
and, as he wished to show his importance before his friends, 
he walked up boldly and commanded our whole cavalcade 
to stop, and to bring forth fire and tobacco, while he coolly 
sat down and smoked his pipe. It was such an inimitably 
natural way of showing off that we all stopped to admire 
the acting, and, though he had left us previously in the 
lurch, we all liked Shobo, a fine specimen of that wonder- 
ful people, the Bushmen. 

ISText day w^e came to a village of Banajoa, a tribe which 
extends far to the eastward. They were living on the bor- 
ders of a marsh in which the Mahabe terminates. They 
had lost their crop of corn, (Holcus sorghu7n,) and now sub- 
sisted almost entirely on the root called "tsitla," a kind of 
aroidoea, which contains avery large quantity of sweet-tasted 
starch. When dried, pounded into meal, and allowed to fer- 
ment, it forms a not unpleasant article of food. The women 
shave all the hair oif their heads, and seem darker than the 
Bechuanas. Their huts were built on poles, and a fire is 
made beneath by night, in order that the smoke may drive 
D 5 



50 OPERATION OP TSETSE POISON. 

away the mosquitos, which abound on the Mahabe and 
Tamunak'le more than in any other part of the country. 
The head-man of this village, Majane, seemed a little want- 
ing in ability, but had had wit enough to promote a younger 
member of the family to the office. This person, the most 
like the ugly negro of the tobacconists' shops I ever saw, 
was called Moroa Majane, or son of Majane, and proved an 
active guide across the river Sonta, and to the banks of 
the Chobe, in the country of Sebituane. We had como 
through another tsetse district by night, and at once passed 
our cattle over to the northern bank to preserve them from 
its ravages. 

A few remarks on the Tsetse, or Glossina morsitans, may 
here be appropriate. It is not much larger than the com- 
mon house-fly, and is nearly of the same brown color as 
the common honey-bee; the after-part of the body has 
three or four yellow bars across it ; the wings project be- 
yond this part considerably, and it is remarkably alert, 
avoiding most dexterously all attempts to catch it with 
the hand at common temperatures; in the cool of the morn- 
ings and evenings it is less agile. Its peculiar buzz when 
once heard can never be forgotten by the traveller whose 
means of locomotion are domestic animals; for it is well 
known that the bite of this poisonous insect is certain 
death to the ox, horse, and dog. In this journey, though 
we were not aware of any great number having at any 
time lighted on our cattle, we lost forty-three fine oxen by 
its bite. We watched the animals carefully, and believe 
that not a score of flies were ever upon them. 

A most remarkable feature in the bite of the tsetse is its 
perfect harmlessness in man and wild animals, and even 
calves so long as they continue to suck the cow. Wo 
never experienced the slightest injury from them ourselves, 
personally, although we Hved two months in their hahitat, 
which was in this case as sharply defined as in many others, 
for the south bank of the Chobe was infested by them, and 
the northern bank, where our cattle were placed, only fifty 



THE TSETSE POISON. 51 

yards distant, contained not a single specimen. This was 
the more remarkable as we often saw natives carr^ang over 
raw meat to the opposite banli with many tsetse settled 
upon it. 

The poison does not seem to be injected by a sting, or by 
ova placed beneath the skin; for, when one is allowed to 
feed freely on the hand, it is seen to insert the middle prong 
of three portions, into which the proboscis divides, some- 
what deeply into the true skin ; it then draws it out a little 
way, and it assumes a crimson color as the mandibles come 
into brisk operation. The previously-shrunken belly swells 
out, and, if left undisturbed, the fly quietly departs when it 
is full. A slight itching irritation follows, but not more 
than in the bite of a mosquito. In the ox this same bite 
produces no more immediate effects than in man. It does 
not startle him as the gad-fly does ; but a few days after- 
ward the following symptoms supervene : the eye and nose 
begin to run, the coat stares as if the animal were cold, a 
swelling appears under the jaw and sometimes at the navel; 
and, though the animal continues to graze, emaciation com- 
mences, accompanied with a peculiar flaccidity of the mus- 
cles, and this proceeds unchecked until, perhaps months after- 
ward, purging comes on, and the animal, no longer able 
to graze, perishes in a state of extreme exhaustion. Those 
which are in good condition often perish soon after the bite 
is inflicted, with staggering and blindness, as if the brain 
were aifecxed by it. Sudden changes of temperature pro- 
duced hy fails of rain seem to hasten the progress of the 
complaint; but, in general, the emaciation goes on unin- 
terruptedly for months, and, do what we will, the poor 
animals perish miserably. 

When opened, the cellular tissue on the surface of the 
bi/dy beneath the skin is seen to be injected with air, as if 
a quantity of soap-bubbles were scattered over it, or a dis- 
honest, awkward butcher had been trying to make it look 
fat. The fat is of a greenish-yellow color and of an oily 
consistence. All the muscles are flabby, and the heart 



52 MEETING WITH SEBITUANE. 

often so soft that the fingers may be made to meet through 
it. The lungs and liver partake of the disease. The 
Htomach and bowels are pale and empty, and the gall- 
bladder is distended with bile. 

The mule, ass, and goat enjoy the same immunity from 
the tsetse as man and game. Many large tribes on the 
Zambesi can keep no domestic animals except the goat, in 
consequence of the scourge existing in their country. Our 
children were frequently bitten, yet suffered no harm; 
and we saw around us numbers of zebras, buffaloes, pigs, 
pallahs and other antelopes, feeding quietly in the very 
habitat of the tsetse, yet as undisturbed by its bite as 
oxen are when they first receive the fatal poison. 

The Makololo whom we met on the Cliobe were delighted 
to see us; and, as their chief Sebituane was about twenty 
miles down the river, Mr. Oswell and I proceeded in canoes 
to his temporary residence. He had come from the Barotse 
town of Naliele down to Sesheke as soon as he heard of 
white men being in search of him, and now came one hundred 
miles more to bid us welcome into his country. He was 
upon an island, with all his principal men around him, and 
ena-ao-ed in sinmns; when we arrived. It was more like 
church-music than the sing-song e e e, as se se, of the 
Bechuanas of the south, and they continued the tune for 
some seconds after we appi'oached. We informed him of the 
difficulties we had encountered, and how glad we were that 
they were all at an end by at last reaching his presence. 
He signified his own joy, and added, ^' Your cattle are al! 
bitten by the tsetse, and will certainly die ; but never mind, 
I have oxen, and will give you as many as you need.'' We, 
in our ignorance, then thought that as so few tsetse had 
bitten them no great mischief would follow. He then pre- 
sented us with an ox and a jar of honey as food, and handed 
us over to the care of Mahale, who had headed the party 
to Kolobeng, and would now fain appropriate to himself 
the whole credit of our coming. Prepared skins of oxen, 
as soft as cloth, were given to cover us through the night; 



Ills CHARACTER. 53 

and, as nothing could be returned to this chief, Mahale be- 
came the owner of them. Long before it was day, Sebituan© 
came, and sitting down by the fire, which was lighted for 
our benefit behind the hedge where we lay, he narrated the 
difficulties he had himself experienced, when a young man, 
in crossing that same desert which we had mastered long 
afterward. 

He was much pleased with the proof of confidence wo 
had shown in bringing our children, and promised to take 
us to see his country, so that we might choose a part in 
•which to locate ourselves. Our plan was, that I should 
remain in the pursuit of my objects as a missionary, 
while Mr. Oswell explored the Zambesi to the east. Poor 
Sebituane, however, just after realizing what he had so long 
ardently desired, fell sick of inflammation of the lungs, 
which originated in and extended from an old wound got at 
Melita. I saw his danger, but, being a stranger, I feared 
to treat him medically, lest, in the event of his death, I 
should be blamed by his people. I mentioned this to one 
of his doctors, who said, " Your fear is prudent and wise : 
this people would blame you.'' He had been cured of this 
complaint, during the year before, by the Barotse making 
a large number of free incisions in the chest. The Mako- 
lolo doctors, on the other hand, now scarcely cut the skin, 
On the Sunday afternoon in which he died, when our usual 
religious service was over, I visited him with my little boy 
Eobert. "Come near," said Sebituane, "and see if I am 
any longer a man. I am done." He was thus sensible of 
the dangerous nature of his disease; so I ventured to as- 
sent, and added a single sentence regarding hope after 
death. "Why do you speak of death ?" said one of a 
relay of fresh doctors; "Sebituane will never die." If I 
had persisted, the impression would have been produced 
that by speaking about it I wished him to die. After 
sitting with him some time, and commending him to the 
mercy of God, I rose to depart, when the dying chieftain, 
raising himself up a little from his prone position, called a 

5* 



54 DEATH OF SEBITUANE. 

servant, and said, " Take Eobcrt to Maunku, [one of hia 
wives,] and tell her to give him some milk/' These were 
the last words of Sebituane. 

We were not informed of his death until the next day. 
The burial of a Bechuana chief takes place in his cattlo- 
pen, and all the cattle are driven for an hour or two around 
and over the grave, so that it may be quite obliterated. 
We went and spoke to the peoj)le, advising them to keep 
together and suj)port the heir. They took this kindly; 
and in turn told us not to be alarmed, for they would not 
think of ascribing the death of their chief to us ; that 
Sebituane had just gone the way of his fathers; and, 
though the father had gone, he had left children, and they 
hoped that we would be as friendly to his children as we 
intended to have been to himself. • 

He was decidedly the best specimen of a native chief I 
ever met. ' I never felt so much grieved by the loss of a 
black man before ; and it was impossible not to follow him 
in thought into the world of which he had just heard be- 
fore he was called away, and to realize somewhat of the 
feelings of those who pray for the dead. The deep, dark 
question of what is to become of such as he must, how- 
ever, be left where we find it, believing that, assuredly, 
the ''Judge of all the earth will do right." 

At Sebituane's death the chieftainship devolved, as hei 
father intended, on a daughter named Ma-mochisane. He 
had promised to show us his country and to select a suitable 
locality for our residence. We had now to look to the 
daughter, who was living twelve days to the north, at 
Naliele. We were obliged, therefore, to remain until a 
message came from her; and, when it did, she gave us 
perfect liberty to visit any part of the country we chose. 
Mr. Oswell and I then proceeded one hundred and thirty 
miles to the northeast, to Sesheke ; and in the end of June, 
1851, we were rewarded by the discovery of the Zambesi, in 
the centre of the continent. This was a most important 
point, for that river was not previously known to exist 



DISCOVERY OP THE ZAMBESI. 55 

there at all. The Portuguese maps all represent it as 
rising far to the east of where we now were -, and, if evei 
any thing like a chain of trading-stations had existed 
across the country between the latitudes 12° and 18° south, 
this magnificent portion of the river must have been 
known before. We saw it at the end of the dry season, at 
the time when the river is about at its lowest; and yet 
there was a breadth of from three hundred to six hundred 
yards of deep, flowing water. Mr. Oswell said he had 
never seen such a fine river even in India. At the period 
of its annual inundation it rises fully twenty feet in per- 
pendicular height, and floods fifteen or twenty miles of 
lands adjacent to its banks. 

Occasionally the country between the Chobe and Zam- 
besi is flooded, and there are large patches of swamps lying 
near the Chobe or on its banks. The Makololo were living 
among these swamps for the sake of the protection the 
deep reedy rivers afforded them against their enemies. 

Now, in reference to a suitable locality for a settlement 
for myself, I could not conscientiously ask them to aban- 
don their defences for my convenience alone. The healthj 
districts were defenceless, and the safe localities were so 
deleterious to human life that the original Basutos had 
nearly all been cut off by the fever : I therefore feared te 
subject my family to the scourge. 

As there was no hope of the Boers allowing the peace 
able instruction of the natives at Kolobeng, I at once re 
solved to save my family from exposure to this unheal thj* 
region by sending them to England, and to return alone, 
with a view to exploring the country in search of a 
healthy district that might prove a centre of civilization 
and open up the interior by a path to either the east or 
west coast. This resolution led me down to the Cape in 
April, 1852, being the first time during eleven years that 1 
had visited the scenes of civilization. Our route to Cape 
Town led us to pass through the centre "^f the colony 
during the twentieth month of a Caffre war; and if those? 



56 RETURN TO THE CAPE. 

who periodically pay enormous sums for these inglorious 
affairs wish to know how our little unprotected party 
could quietly travel through the heart of the colony to 
the capital with as little sense or sign of danger as if we 
had been in England, they must engage a ^^ Times Special 
Correspondent" for the next outbreak to explain where 
the money goes, and who have been benefited by the 
blood and treasure expended. 

Having placed my family on board a homeward-bound 
ship, and promised to rejoin them in two years, we parted, 
for, as it subsequently proved, nearly five years. The 
Directors of the London Missionary Society signified their 
cordial approval of my project, by leaving the matter 
entirely to my own discretion ; and I have much pleasure 
in acknowledging my obligations to the gentlemen com- 
posing that body for always acting in an enlightened 
spirit and with as much liberality as their constitution 
would allow. 

I have the like pleasure in confessing my thankfulness 
to the Astronomer Eoyal at the Cape, Thomas Maclear, 
Esq., for enabling me to recall the little astronomical 
knowledge which constant manual labor and the engross- 
ing nature of missionary duties had effaced from my 
memory, and in adding much that I did not know before. 
The promise he made on parting, that he would examine 
and correct all my observations, had more effect in making 
me persevere in overcoming the difficulties of an unassisted 
solitary observer than any thing else ; so, whatever credit 
may be attached to the geographical positions laid down 
in my route must be attributed to the voluntary aid of 
the excellent and laborious astronomer of the Cape Obser- 
vatory. 

Having given the reader as rapid a sketch as possible 
of events which attracted notice between 1840 and 1852, I 
now proceed to narrate the incidents of the last and 
longest journey of all, performed in 1852-56. 



THE LAST AND LONGEST JOURNEY. 57 



CHAPTER Y. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE STARTS IN JUNE, 1852, ON THE LAST AND 
LONGEST JOURNEY FROM CAPE TOWN. 

Having sent my family home to England, I started in 
the beginning of June, 1852, on my last journey from 
Cape Town. This journey extended from the southern 
extremity of the continent to St. Paul de Loando, the 
capital of Angola, on the west coast, and thence across 
South Central Africa in an oblique direction to Kilimane 
(Quilimane) in Eastern Africa. I proceeded in the usual 
conveyance of the country, the heavy lumbering Cape 
wagon drawn by ten oxen, and was accompanied by two 
Christian Bechuanas from Kuruman, — than whom I never 
saw better servants anywhere, — by two Bakwain men, 
and two young girls, who, having come as nurses with our 
children to the Cape, were returning to their home at 
Kolobeng. Wagon-travelling in Africa has been so often 
described that I need say no more than that it is a prolonged 
system of picnicking, excellent for the health, and agree- 
able to those who are not over-fastidious about trifles, 
and who delight in being in the open air. 

Our route to the north lay near the centre of the cone- 
shaped mass of land which constitutes the promontory of 
the Cape. 

The slow pace at which we wound our way through the 
colony made almost any subject interesting. The attention 
is attracted to the names of different places, because they 
indicate the former existence of buffaloes, elands, and ele- 
phants, which are now to be found only hundreds of miles 
beyond. A few blesbucks, {Antilojpe pygarga,) gnus, blue- 
bucks, {A. cerulea,) steinbucks, and the ostrich, (Struthio 
camelus,) continue, like the Bushmen, to maintain a pre- 
carious existence when all the rest are gone. The ele- 



68 ANIMALS OP THE DESERT. 

phaat, the most sagacious, flees the sound of fire-arms 
first; the gnu and ostrich, the most wary and the most 
stupid, last. The first emigrants found the Hottentots in 
possession of prodigious herds of fine cattle, but no horses, 
asses, or camels. The original cattle, which may still be 
seen in some parts of the frontier, must have been brought 
south from the north-northeast, for from this point the 
natives universally ascribe their original migration. They 
brought cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs : why not the horse, 
the deliirht of savage hordes ? Horses thrive well in the 
Cape Colony when imported. Naturalists point out cer- 
tain mountain-ranges as limiting the habitat of certain 
classes of animals ; but there is no Cordillera in Africa to 
answer that purpose, there being no visible barrier between 
the northeastern Arabs and the Hottentot tribes to prevent 
the difierent hordes, as they felt their way southward, 
from indulging their taste for the possession of this noble 
animal. 

I am here led to notice an invisible barrier, more insur- 
mountable than mountain-ranges, but which is not opposed 
to the southern progress of cattle, goats, and sheep. The 
tsetse would prove a barrier only until its well-defined 
habitat was known; but the disease passing under the 
term of horse-sickness (^peripneumonia) exists in such viru- 
lence over nearly seven degrees of latitude that no precau- 
tion would be sufficient to save these animals. The horse 
is so liable to this disease, that only by great care in stabling 
can he be kept anywhere 'between 20° and 27° S. during 
the time between December and April. The winter, begin- 
ning in the latter month, is the only period in which Eng- 
lishmen can hunt on horseback, and they are in danger of 
losing all their studs some months before December. To 
this disease the horse is especially exposed, and it is almost 
always fatal. One attack, however, seems to secure im- 
munity from a second. Cattle, too, are subject to it, but 
only at intervals of a few, sometimes many, years; but it 
never makes a clean sweep of the whole cattle of a village, 



HORSE-SICKNESS. 59 

as it would do of a troop of fifty horses. This barrier, 
then, seems to explain the absence of the horse among the 
Hottentots, though it is not oj^posed to the southern migra- 
tion of cattle, sheep, and goats. 

When the flesh of animals that have died of this disease 
is eaten, it causes a malignant carbuncle, which, when it 
appears over any important organ, proves rapidly fatal. 
It is more especially dangerous over the pit of the stomach. 
The effects of the poison have been experienced by mis- 
sionaries who had eaten properly-cooked food, — the flesh 
of sheep really but not visibly affected by the disease. 
The virus in the flesh of the animal is destroyed neither by 
boiling nor roasting. This fact, of which we have had innu- 
merable examples, shows the superiority of experiments on 
a large scale to those of acute and able physiologists and 
chemists in the laboratory; for a well-known physician of 
Paris, after careful investigation, considered that the virus 
in such cases was completely neutralized by boiling. 

This disease attacks wild animals too. During our re- 
sidence at Chonuan, great numbers of tolos, or koodoos, 
were attracted to the gardens of the Bak wains, abandoned 
at the usual period of harvest because there was no pros- 
pect of the corn {Holcus sorghum) bearing that year. The 
koodoo is remarkably fond of the green stalks of this kind 
of millet. Free feeding produced that state of fatness favor- 
able for the development of this disease, and no fewer than 
twenty-five died on the hill oj^posite our house. Great 
numbers of gnus and zebras perished from the same cause ; 
but the mortality produced no- sensible diminution in the 
numbers of the game, any more than the deaths of many 
of the Bakwains who persisted, in spite of every remon- 
strance, in eating the dead meat, caused any sensible de- 
crease in the strength of the tribe. 

Before we came to the Orange Eiver, we saw the last 
portion of a migration of springbucks, {Gazella euchore, or 
tsepe.) They came from the great Kalahari Desert, and, 
when first seen after crossing the colonial boundary, are 



60 THE GRIQUAS. 

Baid often to exceed forty thousand in number. I cannot 
give an estimate of their numbers^ for they appear spread 
over a vast expanse of country, and make a quivering 
motion as they feed, and move, and toss their graceful 
horns. They feed chiefly on grass; and, as they come 
from the north about the time when the grass most 
abounds, it cannot be want of food that prompts the 
movement. Nor is it want of water; for this antelope is 
one of the most abstemious in that respect. Their nature 
prompts them to seek as their favorite haunts level plains 
with short grass, where they may be able to watch the 
approach of an enemy. The Bakalahari take advantage 
of this feeling, and burn off large patches of grass, not only 
to attract the game by the new crop when it comes up, but 
also to form bare spots for the springbuck to range over. 

On crossing the Orange Biver we come into inde- 
pendent territory inhabited by Griquas and Bechuanas. 
By Griquas is meant any mixed race sprung from natives 
and Europeans. Those in question were of Dutch extrac- 
tion through association with Hottentot and Bush women. 
Half-castes of the first generation consider themselves 
superior to those of the second, and all possess in some 
degree the characteristics of both parents. They were 
governed for many years by an elected chief, named 
Waterboer, who, by treaty, received a small sum per 
annum from the colonial government for the support of 
schools in his country, and proved a most efficient guard 
of our northwest boundary. 

Many hundreds of both Griquas and Bechuanas have 
become Christians and partially civilized through the 
teaching of English missionaries. My first impressions of 
the progress made were that the accounts of the effects of 
the gospel among them had been too highly colored. 1 
expected a higher degree of Christian simplicity and purity 
than exists either among them or among ourselves. I was 
not anxious for a deeper insight in detecting shams than 
others; but I expected character, such as we imagine the 



DRESS OF THE NATIVES. 61 

primitive disciples had, — and was disappointed. AVhen, 
however, I passed on to the true heathen in the countries 
beyond the sphere of missionary influence, and could com- 
pare the people there with the Christian natives, I came to 
the conclusion that, if the question were examined in the 
most rigidly severe or scientific way, the change effected 
by the missionary movement would be considered unques- 
tionably great. 

We cannot fairly compare these poor people with our- 
selves, who have an atmosphere of Christianity and en 
lightened public opinion, the growth of centuries, around 
us, to influence our deportment; but let any one from the 
natural and proper point of view behold the public mo- 
rality of Griqua Town, Kuruman, Likatlong, and other 
villages, and remember what even London was a century 
ago, and he must confess that the Christian mode of treat- 
ing aborigines is incomparably the best. 

The Griquas and Bechuanas were in former times clad 
much like the Caffres, if such a word may be used where 
there is scarcely any clothing at all. A bunch of leather 
strings about eighteen inches long hung from the lady's 
waist in front, and a prepared skin of a sheep or antelope 
covered the shoulders, leaving the breast and abdomen 
bare : the men wore a patch of skin, about the size of the 
crown of one's hat, which barely served for the purposes 
of decency, and a mantle exactly like that of the women. 
To assist in protecting the pores of the skin from the in- 
fluence of the sun by day and of the cold by night, all 
smeared themselves with a mixture of fat and ochre; the 
head is anointed with pounded blue mica schist mixed with 
fat ; and the fine particles of shining mica, falling on the 
body and on strings of beads and brass rings, were con- 
sidered as highly ornamental, and fit for the most fasti- 
dious dandy. Now these same people come to church in 
decent though poor clothing, and behave with a decorum 
certainly'- superior to what seems to have been the case in 
the time of Mr. Samuel Pepys in London. Sunday is well 



62 ARTICLES OF COMMERCE. 

observed, and, even in localities where no missionary lives, 
religious meetings are regularly held, and children and 
adults taught to read by the more advanced of their own 
fellow-countrymen; and no one is allowed to make a pro- 
fession of faith by baptism unless he knows how to read 
and understands the nature of the Christian religion. 

The Bechuana Mission has been so far successful that, 
when coming from the interior, we always felt, on reaching 
Kuruman, that we had returned to civilized life. But I 
would not give any one to understand by this that they 
are model Christians, — we cannot claim to be model Chris- 
tians ourselves, — or even in any degree superior to the 
members of our country churches. They are more stingy 
and greedy than the poor at home ; but in many respect? 
the two are exactly alike. On asking an intelligent chief 
what he thought of them, he replied, '' You white men 
have no idea of how wicked we are; we know each other 
better than you : some feign bchef to ingratiate themselves 
with the missionaries; some profess Christiamty because 
they like the new system, which gives so much more 
importance to the poor, and desire that the old system 
may pass away; and the rest — a pretty large number — 
profess because they are really true believers.'^ Thir 
testimony Tcaiy be considered as very nearly correct. 

There is not much prospect of this country ever pro 
ducing much of the materials of commerce except wool 
At present the chief articles of trade are karosses or man 
ties, — the skins of which they are composed come from the 
Desert; next to them, ivory, the quantity of which cannot 
now be great, inasmuch as the means of shooting elephants 
is sedulously debarred entrance into the country. A few 
skins and horns, and some cattle, make up the remainder 
of the exports. English goods, sugar, tea, and coffee are 
the articles received in exchange. All the natives of these 
parts soon become remarkably fond of coffee. The acme 
of respectability among the Bechuanas is the possession of 
cattle and a wagon. It is remarkable that, though these 



kuruman: its fountain. 63 

latter require frequent repairs, none of the Bechuanas have 
ever learned to mend them. Forges and tools have been 
at their service, and teachers willing to aid them, but, 
beyond putting together a camp-stool, no effort has ever 
been made to acquire a knowledge of the trades. They 
observe most carefully a missionary at work until they 
understand whether a tire is well welded or not, and then 
pronounce upon its merits with great emphasis; but there 
their ambition rests satisfied. It is the same peculiarity 
among ourselves which leads ue in other matters, such as 
book-making, to attain the excellence of fault-finding 
without the wit to indite a page. It was in vain I tried 
to indoctrinate the Bechuanas with the idea that criticism 
did not imply any superiority over the workman, or even 
equality with him. 



CHAPTEK YI. 



DR. LIVINGSTONE VISITS HIS FATHER-IN-LAW, MR. MOFFAT, 

AT KURUMAN. 

The permanence of the station called Kuruman depends 
entirely on the fine ever-flowing fountain of that name. 
It comes from beneath the trap-rock, and, as it usually 
issues at a temperature of 72° Fahr., it probably comes 
from the old Silurian schists which formed the bottom of 
the great primeval valley of the continent. I could not 
detect any diminution in the flow of this gushing fountain 
during my residence in the country; but when Mr. Moff'at 
first attempted a settlement here, thirty-five years ago, he 
made a dam six or seven miles below the present one, and 
led out the stream for irrigation, where not a drop of the 
fountain-water ever now flows. Other parts, fourteen miles 
below the Kuruman gardens, are pointed out as having 



64 ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN "WATER. 

contained, within the memorj^ of people now living, 
hippopotami, and pools sufficient to drown both men and 
cattle. This failure of water must be chiefly ascribed to 
the general desiccation of the country, but partly also to 
the amount of irrigation carried on along both banks of 
the stream at the mission-station. This latter circum- 
stance would have more weight were it not coincident 
with the failure of fountains over a wide extent of 
country. 

Without at present entering minutely into this feature 
of the climate, it may be remarked that the Kuruman dis- 
trict presents evidence of this dry southern region having 
at no very distant date, been as well watered as the country 
north of Lake Ngami is now. Ancient river-beds and 
water-courses abound, and the very eyes of fountains long 
since dried up may be seen, in which the flow of centuries 
has worn these orifices from a slit to an oval form, having 
on their sides the tufa so abundantly deposited from these 
primitive waters; and just where the splashings, made 
when the stream fell on the rock below, may be supposed 
to have reached and evaporated, the same phenomenon 
appears. Many of these failing fountains no longer flow, 
because the brink over which they ran is now too high, or 
because the elevation of the western side of the country 
lifts the land away from the water-supply below ; but let a 
cutting be made from a lower level than the brink, and 
through it to a part below the surface of the water, and 
water flows perennially. Several of these ancient fountains 
have been resuscitated by the Bechuanas near Kuruman, 
who occasionally show their feelings of self-esteem by 
laboring for months at deep cuttings, which, having once 
begun, they feel bound in honor to persevere in, though 
told by a missionary that they can never force water to run 
up hill. 

During the period of my visit at Kuruman, Mr. Mofl*at, 
who has been a missionary in Africa during upward of forty 
years, and is well known by his interesting work, " Scenes 



THE BECHUANA LANGUAGE. 65 

and Labors in South Africa," was busily engaged in carry- 
ing through the press, with which his station is furnished, 
the Bible in the language of the Bechuanas, which is called 
Sichuana. This has been a work of immense labor; and 
as he was the first to reduce their speech to a written form, 
and has had his attention directed to the study for at least 
thirty years, he may be supposed to be better adapted for 
the task than any man living. Some idea of the copious- 
ness of the language may be formed from the fact that 
even he never S]Dends a week at his work without discover- 
ing new words; the phenomenon, therefore, of any man 
who, after a few months' or years' study of a native tongue, 
cackles forth a torrent of vocables, may well be wondered 
at, if it is meant to convey instruction. In my own case, 
though I have had as much intercourse with the purest 
:*diom as most Englishmen, and have studied the language 
carefully, yet I can never utter an important statement 
without doing so very slowly, and repeating it too, lest the 
foreign accent, which is distinctly perceptible in all Euro- 
peans, should render the sense unintelligible. In this I 
follow the example of the Bechuana orators, who, on im- 
portant matters, always speak slowly, deliberately, and 
with reiteration. The capabilities of this language may 
be inferred from the fact that the Pentateuch is fully ex- 
pressed in Mr. Moffat's translation in fewer words than in 
the Greek Septuagint, and in a very considerably smaller 
number than in our own English version. The language 
is, however, so simple in its construction, that its copious- 
ness by no means requires the explanation that the people 
have fallen from a former state of civilization and culture. 
The fact of the complete translation of the Bible at a 
station seven hundred miles inland from the Cape naturally 
Ruggests the question whether it is likely to be permanently 
useful, and whether Christianity, as planted by modern 
missions, is likely to retain its vitality without constant 
supplies of foreign teaching. It would certainly be no 
cause for congratulation if the Bechuana Bible seemed at 
E 6* 



66 TRANSLATION OP THE BIBLE. 

all likely to meet the fate of Elliot's Choctaw version, a 
specimen of which may be seen in the library of one of tht 
American colleges, — as God's word in a language which no 
living tongue can articulate, nor living mortal understand; 
but a better destiny seems in store for this, for the Sichuana 
language has been introduced into the new country be^^ond 
Lake Ngami. There it is the court language, and will take 
a stranger anywhere through a district larger than France. 
The Bechuanas, moreover, in all probability possess that 
imperishability which forms so remarkable a feature in tho 
entire African race. 

Protestant missionaries of every denomination in South 
Africa all agree in one point, that no mere profession of 
Christianity is sufficient to entitle the converts to the 
Christian name. They are all anxious to place the Bible 
in the hands of the natives, and, with ability to read that, 
there can be little doubt as to the future. We believe 
Christianity to be divine, and equal to all it has to perform; 
then let the good seed be widely sown, and, no matter to 
what sect the converts may belong, the harvest will be 
glorious. Let nothing that I have said be interpreted as 
indicative of feelings inimical to any body of Christians, 
for I never, as a missionary, felt myself to be either Pres- 
byterian, Episcopalian, or Independent, or called upon in 
any way to love one denomination less than another. My 
earnest desire is, that those who really have the best in- 
terests of the heathen at heart should go to them; and 
assuredly, in Africa at least, self-denying labors among real 
heathen will not fail to be appreciated. Christians have 
never yet dealt fairly by the heathen and been disappointed. 

When Sechele understood that we could no longer remain 
with him at Kolobeng, he sent his children to Mr. Moffat, 
at Kuruman, for instruction in all the knowledge of the 
white men. Mr. Moffat very liberally received at once an 
accession of five to his family, with their attendants. 

Having been detained at Kuruman about a fortnight by 
the breaking of a wagon-wheel, 1 was thus providentially 



sechele's letter. 67 

prevented from being present at the attack of the Boera 
on the Bakwains, news of which was brought, about the 
end of that time, by Masebele, the wife of Sechele. She 
had herself been hidden in a cleft of a rock, over which a 
number of Boers were firing. Her infant began to cry, 
and, terrified lest this should attract the attention of the 
men, the muzzles of whose guns appeared at every discharge 
over her head, she took off her armlets as playthings to quiet 
the child. She brought Mr. Moffat a letter, which tells its 
own tale. Nearly literally translated it was as follows : — 

'^Friend of my heart's love, and of all the confidence of 
my heart, I am Sechele. I am undone by the Boers, who 
attacked me, though I had no guilt with them. They de- 
manded that I should be in their kingdom, and I refused. 
They demanded that I should prevent the English and 
Griquas from passing (northward). I replied. These aro 
my friends, and I can prevent no one (of them). They 
came on Saturday, and I besought them not to fight on 
Sunday, and they assented. They began on Monday 
morning at twilight, and fired with all their might, and 
burned the town with fire, and scattered us. They killed 
sixty of my people, and captured women, and children, 
and men. And the mother of Baleriling (a former wife of 
Sechele) they also took prisoner. They took all the cattle 
and all the goods of the Bakwains; and the house of Living- 
stone they plundered, taking away all his goods. The 
number of wagons they had was eighty -five, and a cannon; 
and after they had stolen my own wagon and that of 
Macabe, then the number of their wagons (counting the 
cannon as one) was eighty-eight. All the goods of the 
hunters (certain English gentlemen hunting and exploring 
in the north) were burned in the town; and of the Boers 
were killed twenty-eight. Yes, my beloved friend, now 
my wife goes to see the children, and Kobus Hae will con- 
vey her to you. *'l am Sechele, 

<<The son of Mochoasele," 



68 A PANIC. 

This statement is in exact accordance with the account 
given by the native teacher Mebahve, and also that sent 
by some of the Boers themselves to the public colonial 
papers. The crime of cattle-stealing, of w^iich we hear so 
much near Caifreland, was never alleged against these 
people; and, if a single case had occurred when I was in 
the country, I must have heard of it, and would at once 
say so. But the only crime imputed in the paj^ers was 
that "Sechele was getting too saucy." The demand made 
for his subjection and service in preventing the English 
traders passing to the north was kept out of view. 

Very soon after Pretorius had sent the marauding-party 
against Kolobeng, he was called away to the tribunal of 
infinite justice. His policy is justified by the Boers gene- 
rally from the instructions given to the Jewish warriors 
in Deuteronomy xx. 10-14. Hence, when he died, the 
obituary notice ended with "Blessed are the dead who die 
in the Lord.'' I wish he had not ^^ forbidden us to preach 
unto the Gentiles that they may be saved." 

The report of this outrage on the Bakwains, coupled 
with denunciations against myself for having, as it was 
alleged, taught them to kill Boers, produced such a panic 
in the country that I could not engage a single servant to 
accompany me to the north. I have already alluded to 
their mode of warfare, and in all previous Boerish forays 
the killing had all been on one side; now, however, that a 
tribe where an Englishman had lived had begun to shed 
their blood as well, it was considered the strongest pre- 
sumptive evidence against me. Loud vows of vengeance 
were uttered against my head, and threats of instant pur- 
suit by a large parly on horseback, should I dare to go into 
or bej^ond their countrj^; and as these were coupled with 
the declaration that the English Government had given 
over the whole of the native tribes to their rule, and would 
assist in their entire subjection by preventing fire-arms 
and ammunition from entering the country except for the 
use of the Boers, it was not to be wondered at that I was 



bechele's intended journey. 69 

detained for months at Kuruman from sheer inability to get 
wagon-drivers. The English name, from being honored 
and respected all over the country, had become somewhat 
more than suspected; and as the policy of depriving those 
friendly tribes of the means of defence was represented 
by the Boers as proof positive of the wish of the English 
that they should be subjugated, the conduct of a govern- 
ment which these tribes always thought the paragon 
of justice and friendship was rendered totally incompre- 
hensible to them; they could neither defend themselves 
against their enemies, nor shoot the animals in the pro- 
duce of which we wished them to trade. 

At last I found three servants willing to risk a journey 
to the north ; and a man of color named George Fleming, 
who had generously been assisted by Mr. H. E. Eutherford, 
a mercantile gentleman of Cape Town, to endeavor to 
establish a trade with the Makololo, had also managed to 
get a similar number; we accordingly left Kuruman on the 
20th of JSTovember, and proceeded on our journey. Our 
servants were the worst possible specimens of those who 
imbibe the vices without the virtues of Europeans; but we 
had no choice, and were glad to get away on any terms. 

"When we reached Motito, forty miles off, we met Sechele 
on his way, as he said, <Ho the Queen of England.'' Two 
of his own children, and their mother, a former wife, were 
among the captives seized by the Boers; and, being strongly 
imbued with the then very prevalent notion of England's 
justice and generosity, he thought that in consequence of 
the violated treaty he had a fair case to lay before her 
majesty. He employed all his eloquence and powers of 
persuasion to induce me to accompany him, but I excused 
myself on the ground that my arrangements were already 
made for exploring the north. On explaining the diffi- 
culties of the way, and endeavoring to dissuade him from 
the attempt, on account of the knowledge I possessed of 
the governor's policy, he put the pointed question, "Will 
the queen not listen to me, supposing I should reach her V 



70 HIS RETURN. 

I replied, ^'1 believe she would listen, but the difficulty is 
to get to her." "Well, I shall reach her,'' expressed his 
final determination. Others explained the difficulties more 
fully, but nothing could shake his resolution. When he 
reached Bloemfontein he found the English army just re- 
turning from a battle with the Basutos, in which both 
parties claimed the victory, and both were glad that a 
second engagement was not tried. Our officers invited 
Sechele to dine with them, heard his story, and collected 
a handsome sum of money to enable him to pursue his 
journey to England. The commander refrained from no- 
ticing him, as a single word in favor of the restoration of 
the children of Sechele would have been a virtual confes- 
sion of the failure of his own policy at the very outset. 
Sechele proceeded as far as the Cape ; but, his resources 
being there expended, he was obliged to return to his own 
country, one thousand miles distant, without accomplishing 
the object of his journey. 

On his return he adopted a mode of punishment which 
he had seen in the colony, namely, making criminals work 
on the public roads. And he has since, I am informed, 
made himself the missionary to his own people. He is tall, 
rather corpulent, and has more of the negro feature than 
common, but has large eyes. He is very dark, and his peo- 
ple swear by " Black Sechele." He has great intelligence, 
reads well, and is a fluent speaker. Great numbers of the 
tribes formerly living under the Boers have taken refuge 
under his sway, and he is now greater in power than he 
was before the attack on Kolobeng. 

Having parted with Sechele, we skirted along the Kala- 
hari Desert, and sometimes within its borders, giving the 
Boers a wide berth. A larger fall of rain than usual had 
occurred in 1852, and that was the completion of a cycle 
of eleven or twelve years, at which the same phenomenon 
is reported to have happened on three occasions. An un- 
usually large crop of melons had appeared in consequence 
We had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. J. Macabe return- 



SACRED CAVE. 71 

^> ig from Lake Ngami, which he had succeeded in reaching 
by going right across the Desert from a point a little to the 
south of Kolobeng. The accounts of the abundance of 
water-melons were amply confirmed by this energetic 
traveller; for, having these in vast quantities, his cattle sub- 
sisted on the fluid contained in them for a period of no less 
than twenty-one days; and when at last they reached a 
supply of water they did not seem to care much about it. 
Coming to the lake from the southeast, he crossed the 
Teoughe, and went round the northern part of it, and is 
the only European traveller who had actually seen it all. 
His estimate of the extent of the lake is higher than that 
given by Mr. Oswell and myself, or from about ninety to 
one hundred miles in circumference. 

On the 31st of December, 1852, we reached the town of 
Sechele, called, from the part of the range on which it is 
situated, Litubaruba. Near the village there exists a cave 
named Lepelole; it is an interesting evidence of the former 
existence of a gushing fountain. No one dared to enter the 
l/ohaheng, or cave, for it was the common belief that it was 
the habitation of the Deity. As we never had a holiday 
from January to December, and our Sundays were the pe- 
riods of oar greatest exertions in teaching, I projected an 
excursion into the cave on a weekday to see the god of the 
Bakwains. The old men said that every one who went in 
remained there forever, adding, ^^ If the teacher is so mad 
as to kill himself, let him do so alone : we shall not be to 
blame." The declaration of Sechele, that he would follow 
where 1 led, produced the greatest consternation. It is 
curious that in all their pretended dreams or visions of their 
god he has always a crooked leg, like the Egyptian Thau. 
Su2:)posing that those who were reported to have perished 
in this cave had fallen over some precipice, we went well 
provided with lights, ladder, lines, &c. ; but it turned out to 
be only an open cave, with an entrance about ten feet square, 
which contracts into two water-worn branches, ending in 
round orifices throus^h which the water once flowed. The 



72 RETALIATION ON BOERS. 

only inlialutants it seems ever to have had were bahoons. 
I left at the end of the upper branch one of Father Mathew's 
leaden teetotal tickets. 

I never saw the Bakwains looking so haggard and lean 
as at this time. Most of their cattle had been swept away 
by the Boers, together with about eighty fine draught-oxen ; 
and much provision left with them by two officers, Cap- 
tains Codrington and Webb, to serve for their return jour- 
ney south, had been carried off also. On their return these 
officers found the skeletons of the Bakwains where they 
expected to find their own goods. All the corn, clothing, 
and furniture of the people, too, had been consumed in the 
flames which the Boers had forced the subject tribes to 
apply to the town during the fight, so that its inhabitants 
were now literally starving. 

Sechele had given orders to his people not to commit any 
act of revenge pending his visit to the Queen of England; 
but some of the young men ventured to go to meet a party 
of Boers returning from hunting, and, as the Boers became 
terrified and ran off', they brought their wagons to Lituba- 
ruba. This seems to have given the main body of Boers 
an idea that the Bakwains meant to begin a guerrilla war 
upon them. This "Caffre war" was, however, only in 
embryo, and not near that stage of development in which 
the natives have found out that the hide-and-seek system is 
the most successful. 

The Boers, in alarm, sent four of their number to ask for 
peace ! I, being present, heard the cgndition : — " Sechele's 
children must be restored to him." I never saw men so 
completely and unconsciously in a trap as these four Boers 
were. Strong parties of armed Bakwains occupied every 
pass in the hills and gorges around; and had they not pro- 
mised much more than they intended, or did perform, that 
day would have been their last. The commandant Scholz 
had appropriated the children of Sechele to be his own 
domestic slaves. I was present when one little boy, Khari, 
son of Sechele, was returned to his mother; the child had 



LOVE OF CHILDREN. 73 

been allowed to roll into the fire, and there were three large 
unbound open sores upon different parts of his body. His 
mother and the women received him with a flood of silent 
tears. 

Slavery is said to be mild and tender-hearted in some 
places. The Boers assert that they are the hest of masters, 
and that, if the English had possessed the Hottentot slaves, 
they would have received much worse treatment than they 
did : what that would have been it is difficult to imagine. 
I took down the names of some scores of boys and girls, 
many of whom I knew as our scholars; but I could not 
comfort the weeping mothers by any hope of their ever 
returning from slavery. 

The Bechuanas are universally much attached to children. 
A little child toddling near a party of men while they are 
eating is sure to get a handful of the food. This love of 
children may arise in a great measure from the patriarchal 
system under which they dwell. Every little stranger 
forms an increase of property to the whole community, 
and is duly reported to the chief, — boys being more wel- 
come than girls. The parents take the name of the child, 
and often address their children as Ma, (mother,) or Ea, 
(father.) Our eldest boy being named Eobert, Mrs. Living- 
stone was, after his birth, always addressed as Ma-Kobert, 
instead of Mary, her Christian name. 



CHAPTEK YII. 

LIVINGSTONE LEAVES THE COUNTRY OP THE BAKWAINS. 

Having remained five days with the wretched Bakwains, 
seeing the effects of war, of which only a very inadequate 
idea can ever be formed by those who have not been eye- 
witnesses of its miseries, we prepared to depart on the 
.I5th of January, 1853. Several dogs, in better condition 
by far than any of the people, had taken up their residence 



74 DEPARTURE FROM BAKWAIN COUNTRY. 

at the water. No one would own them ; there they had 

remained, and, coming on the trail of the people, long after 

their departure from the scene of conflict, it was plain 

they had 

*' Held o'er the dead their carnival." 

Hence the disgust with which they were viewed. 

On our way from Khopong, along the ancient river-bed 
which forms the pathway to Boatlanama, I found a species 
of cactus, being the third I had seen in the country, namely, 
one in the colony with a bright red flower, one at Lake 
Ngarai, the flower of which was liver-colored, and the 
present one, flower unknown. That the plant is uncommon 
may be inferred from the fact that the Bakwains find so 
much difficulty in recognising the plant again after having 
once seen it, that they believe it has the power of changing 
its locality. 

On the 21st of January we reached the wells of Boat- 
lanama, and found them for the first time empty. Lopepe, 
which I had formerly seen a stream running from a large 
reedy pool, was also dry. The hot salt spring of Serinane, 
east of Lopepe, being undrinkable, we pushed on to Mashiie 
for its delicious waters. In travelling through this country, 
the olfactory nerves are frequently excited by a strong, dis- 
agreeable odor. This is caused by a large jet-black ant 
named "Leshonya." It is nearly an inch in length, and 
emits a pungent smell when alarmed, in the same manner 
as the skunk. The scent must be as volatile as ether, for, 
on irritating the insect with a stick six feet long, the odor is 
instantly perceptible. 

That the fear of man often remains excessively strong in 
the carnivora is proved from well-authenticated cases in 
which the lioness, in the vicinity of towns where the large 
game had been unexpectedly driven away by fire-arms, 
has been known to assuage the paroxysms of hunger by 
devouring her own young. It must be added that, though 
the effluvium which is left by the footsteps of man is in 
general sufficient to induce lions to avoid a village, there 



THE LION. 75 

are exceptions: so many came about our half-deserted 
houses at Chonuane while we were in the act of removing 
to Kolobeng, that the natives who remained with Mrs. 
Livingstone were terrified to stir out of doors in the even- 
ing. Bitches, also, have been known to be guilty of the 
horridly unnatural act of eating their own young, probably 
from the great desire for animal food, which is experienced 
by the inhabitants as well. 

When a lion is met in the daytime, a circumstance by no 
means unfrequent to travellers in these parts, if precon- 
ceived notions do not lead them to expect something very 
"noble'' or "majestic," they will see merely an animal 
somewhat larger than the biggest dog they ever saw, and 
partaking very strongly of the canine features : the face is 
not much like the usual drawings of a lion, the nose being 
prolonged like a dog's ; not exactly such as our painters 
make it, — though they might learn better at the Zoological 
Gardens, — their ideas of majesty being usually shown by 
making their lions' faces like old women in nightcaps. 
When encountered in the daytime, the lion stands a second 
or two, gazing, then turns slowly round, and walks as 
slowly away for a dozen paces, looking over his shoulder, 
then begins to trot, and, when he thinks himself out of 
sight, bounds off like a greyhound. By day there is not, 
as a rule, the smallest danger of lions which are not 
molested attacking man, nor even on a clear moonlight 
night, except when they possess the breeding <tto|0^^, (natural 
affection :) this makes them brave almost any danger; and 
if a man happens to cross to the windward of them, both 
lion and lioness will rush at him, in the manner of a bitch 
with whelps. This does not often happen, as I only became 
aware of two or three instances of it. In one case a man, 
passing where the wind blew from him to the animals, was 
bitten before he could climb a tree; and occasionally a man 
on horseback has been caught by the leg under the same 
circumstances. So general, however, is the sense of security 
on moonlight nights, that we seldom tied up our oxen, but 



76 HABITS OP THE LION, 

let them lie loose by the wagons; while on a dark, rainy 
night, if a lion is in the neighborhood, he is almost sure to 
venture to kill an ox. His approach is always stealthy, 
except when wounded ; and any appearance of a trap is 
enough to cause him to refrain from making the last spring. 
This seems characteristic of the feline species : when a 
goat is picketed in India for the purpose of enabling the 
huntsmen to shoot a tiger by night, if on a plain, he would 
whip off the animal so quickly by a stroke of the paw that 
no one could take aim; to obviate this, a small pit is dug, 
and the goat is picketed to a stake in the bottom ; a small 
stone is tied in the ear of the goat, which makes him cry 
the whole night. When the tiger sees the appearance of 
a trap, he walks round and round the pit, and allows the 
hunter, who is lying in wait, to have a fair shot. 

When a lion is very hungry, and lying in wait, the sight 
of an animal may make him commence stalking it. In one 
case a man, while stealthily crawling toward a rhinoceros, 
happened to glance behind him, and found to his horror a 
lion stalking him ; he only escaped by springing up a tree 
like a cat. At Lopepe a lioness sprang on the after-quarter 
of Mr. Oswell's horse, and when we came up to him we 
found the marks of the claws on the horse, and a scratch 
on Mr. O.'s hand. The horse, on feeling the lion on him, 
sprang away, and the rider, caught by a wait-a-bit thorn, 
was brought to the ground and rendered insensible. His 
dogs saved him. Another English gentleman (Captain 
Codrington) was surprised in the same way, though not 
hunting the lion at the time, but turning round he shot him 
dead in tne neck. By accident a horse belonging to Cod- 
rington ran away, but was stopped by the bridle catching 
a stump ; there he remained a prisoner two days, and when 
found the whole space around was marked by the footprints 
of lions. They had evidently been afraid to attack the 
haltered horse, from fear that it was a trap. Two lions 
came up by night to within three yards of oxen tied to a 
wagon, and a sheep tied to a tree, and stood roaring, but 



HABITS OF THE LION. 77 

afraid to make a spring. On another occasion, one of our 
party was lying sound asleep and unconscious of danger 
between two natives behind a bush at Mashiie ; the fire was 
nearly out at their feet in consequence of all being com- 
pletely tired out by the fatigues of the previous day : a lion 
came up to within three yards of the fire, and there com- 
menced roaring instead of making a spring : the fact of 
their riding-ox being tied to the bush was the only reason 
the lion had for not following his instinct and making a 
meal of flesh. He then stood on a knoll three hundred 
yards distant, and roared all night, and continued his 
growling as the party moved off by daylight next morning. 
Nothing that I ever learned of the lion would lead me to 
attribute to it either the ferocious or noble character ascribed 
to it elsewhere. It possesses none of the nobility of the 
Newfoundland or St. Bernard dogs. With respect to its 
great strength there can be no doubt. The immense masses 
of muscle around its jaws, shoulders, and forearms pro- 
claim tremendous force. They would seem, however, to 
be inferior in power to those of the Indian tiger. Most of 
those feats of strength that I have seen performed by lions, 
such as the taking away of an ox, were not carrying, but 
dragging or trailing the carcass along the ground : they 
have sprung on some occasions on to the hind-quarters of 
a horse, but no one has ever seen them on the withers of 
a giraffe. They do not mount on the hind-quarters of an 
eland even, but try to tear him down with their claws. 
Messrs. Oswell and Yardon once saw three lions endeavor- 
ing to drag down a buffalo, and they were unable to do so 
for a time, though he was then mortally wounded by a 
two-ounce ball.* 



* This singular encounter, in the words of an eye-witness, happened 
as follows : — 

"My South African Journal is now before me, and I have got hold of 
the account of the lion and buffalo affair; here it is: — '15th September, 
18'i6. Oswell and I were riding this afternoon along tlua banks of the 



78 HABITS OP THE LION. 

In general the lion seizes the animal he is attacking by the 
flank near the hind-leg, or by the throat below the jaw. It is 
questionable whether he ever attempts to seize an animal by 
the withers. The flank is the most common point of attack, 
and that is the part he begins to feast on first. The natives 
and lions are very similar in their tastes in the selection ot 
titbits : an eland may be seen disembowelled by a lion so 
completely that he scarcely seems cut up at all. The 
bowels and fatty parts form a full meal for even the largest 
lion. The jackal comes snifling about, and sometimes 
suff'ers for his temerity by a stroke from the lion's paw 



Limpopo, when a waterbuck started in front of us. I dismounted, and 
was following it through the jungle, when three buffaloes got up, and, 
after going a little distance, stood still, and the nearest bull turned round 
and looked at me. A ball from the two-ouncer crashed into his shoulder, 
and they all three made off. Oswell and I followed as soon as I had re- 
loaded, and when we were in sight of the buffalo, and gaining on him at 
every stride, three lions leaped on the unfortunate brute ; he bellowed 
most lustily as he kept up a kind of running fight, but he was, of course, 
soon overpowered and pulled down. We had a fine view of the struggle, 
and saw the lions on their hind-legs tearing away with teeth and claws 
in most ferocious style. We crept up within thirty yards, and, kneeling 
down, blazed away at the lions. My rifle was a single barrel, and I had 
no spare gun. One lion fell dead almost on the buffalo ; he had merely 
time to turn toward us, seize a bush with his teeth, and drop dead with 
the stick in his jaws. The second made off immediately ; and the third 
raised his head, coolly looked round for a moment, then went on tearing 
and biting at the carcass as hard as ever. We retired a short distance 
to load, then again advanced and fired. The lion made off, but a ball 
that he received ouffht to have stopped him, as it went clean through hia 
shoulder-blade. He was followed up and killed, after having charged 
several times. Both lions were males. It is not often that one bags a 
brace of lions and a bull-buffalo in about ten minutes. It was an exciting 
adventure, and I shall never forget it.' 

" Such, my dear Livingstone, is the plain unvarnished account. The 
buffalo had, of course, gone close to where the lions were lying down for 
the day ; and they, seeing him lame and bleeding, thought the opportU' 
nity too good a one to be lost. Ever yours, 

"Frank Vakdon.'' 



80 HIS ROAR. 

laying him dead. When gorged, the lion falls fast asleep, and 
is then easily despatched. Hunting a lion with dogs involves 
very little danger compared with hunting the Indian tiger, 
because the dogs bring him out of cover and make him stand 
at bay, giving the hunter plenty of time for a good deliberate 
shot. 

Where game is abundant, there you may expect lions in 
proportionately large numbers. They are never seen in 
herds, but six or eight, probably one family, occasionally 
bunt together. One is in much more danger of being run 
over when walking in the streets of London than he is of 
being devoured by lions in Africa, unless engaged in hunt- 
ing the animal. Indeed, nothing that I have seen or heard 
about lions would constitute a barrier in the way of men of 
ordinary courage and enterprise. 

The same feeling which has induced the modern painter 
to caricature the lion has led the sentimentalist to consider 
the lion's roar the most terrific of all earthly sounds. We 
hear of the " majestic roar of the king of beasts.'' It is, 
indeed, well calculated to inspire fear if you hear it in 
combination with the tremendously loud thunder of that 
country, on a night so pitchy dark that every flash of the 
intensely vivid lightning leaves you with the impression 
of stone-blindness, while the rain pours down so fast that 
your fire goes out, leaving you without the protection of 
even a tree, or the chance of your gun going oif. But 
when you are in a comfortable house or wagon, the case is 
very different, and you hear the roar of the lion without 
an}^ awe or alarm. The silly ostrich makes a noise as loud ; 
yet he never was feared by man. To talk of the majestic 
roar of the lion is mere majestic twaddle. On my men- 
tioning this fact some years ago, the assertion was doubted, 
BC I have beei careful ever since to inquire the opinions 
of Europeans, who have heard both, if they could detect 
any difference between the roar of a lion and that of an 
ostrich; the invariable answer was, that they could not 
when the animal was at any distance. The natives assort 



LIONS AND BUFFALOES. gj 

that they can detect a variation between the commence- 
ment of the noise of each. There is, it must be admitted, 
considerable difference between the singing noise of a lion 
when full, and his deep, gruif growl when hungry. In 
general the lion's voice seems to come deeper from the 
chest than that of the ostrich; but to this day I can dis- 
tinguish between them with certainty only by knowing 
that the ostrich roars by day and the lion by night. 

The African lion is of a tawny color, like that of some 
mastiffs. The mane in the male is large, and gives the 
idea of great power. In some lions the ends of the hair 
of the mane are black; these go by the name of black- 
maned lions, though as a whole all look of the yellow 
tawny color. At the time of the discovery of the lake, 
Messrs. Oswell and Wilson shot two specimens of another 
variety. One was an old lion, whose teeth were mere 
stumps, and his claws worn quite blunt; the other was 
full grown, in the prime of life, with white, perfect teeth : 
both were entirely destitute of mane. The lions in the 
country near the lake give tongue less than those farther 
south. We scarcely ever heard them roar at all. 

The lion has other checks on inordinate increase besides 
man. He seldom attacks full-grown animals; but fre- 
quently, when a buffalo-calf is caught by him, the cow 
rushes to the rescue, and a toss from her often kills him. 
One we found was killed thus; and on the Leeambye an- 
other, which died near Sesheke, had all the appearance of 
having received his death-blow from a buffalo. It is ques- 
tionable if a single lion ever attacks a full-grown buffalo. 
The amount of roaring heard at night, on occasions when 
a buffalo is killed, seems to indicate there are always more 
than one lion engaged in the onslaught. 

On the plain, south of Sebituane's ford, a herd of buffa- 
loes kept a number of lions from their young by the males 
turning their heads to the enemy. The young and the 
cows were in the rear. One toss from a bull would kill 
the strongest lion that ever breathed I have been in- 



82 SEKOMl'S VIEW or EXTORTION. 

formed that in one part of India even the tame buffaloes 
foci their superiority to some wild animals, for they have 
been seen to chase a tiger up the hills, bellowing as if they 
enjoyed the sport. Lions never go near any elephants ex- 
cept the calves, which, when young, are sometimes torn 
by them ; every living thing retires before the lordly ele- 
phant, yet a full-grown one would be an easier prey than 
the rhinoceros; the lion rushes off at the mere sight of 
this latter beast. 

When we reached the Bamangwato, the chief, Sekomi, 
was particularly friendly, collected all his peojile to the 
relio-ious seiwices we held, and explained his reasons for 
compelling some Englishmen to pay him a horse. '^ They 
would not sell him any powder, though they had plenty ; 
so he compelled them to give it and the horse for nothing. 
He would not deny the extortion to me ; that would be 
* boherehere,' (swindling.)'' He thus thought extortion 
better than swindling. 1 could not detect any difference 
in the morality of the two transactions; but Sekomi's ideas 
of honesty are the lowest I have met with in any Bechu- 
ana chief, and this instance is mentioned as the only ap- 
proach to demanding payment for leave to pass that T have 
met with in the south. In all other cases the difficulty has 
been to get a chief to give us men to show the way, and 
the payment has only been for guides. Englishmen have 
always very properly avoided giving that idea to the native 
mind which we shall hereafter find prove troublesome, that 
payment ought to be made for passage through a country. 

January 28. — Passing on to Letloche, about twenty 
miles beyond the Bamangwato, we found a fine supply of 
water. This is a point of so much interest in that country 
that the first question we ask of passers-by is, "Have you 
had water ?" the first inquiry a native puts to a fellow- 
countryman is, ''Where is the rain?" and, though they are 
by no means an untruthful nation, the answer generally i», 
*' I don't know : there is none : we are killed with hunger 
and by the sun.'' If news is asked for, they commence 



84 MR. GORDON CUMMINQ. 

with, ^' There is no news; I heard some lies only," and 
then tell all they know. 

This spot was Mr. Gordon Cumming's farthest station 
north. Our house at Kolobeng having been quite in the 
hunting-country, rhinoceros and buffaloes several times 
rushed past, and I was able to shoot the latter twice from 
our own door. AVe were favored by visits from this famous 
hunter during each of the live years of his warfare with 
wild animals. Many English gentlemen following the 
same pursuits paid their guides and assistants so punc- 
tually that in making arrangements for them we had to be 
careful that four did not go where two only were wanted : 
they knew so well that an Englishman would pay that 
they depended implicitly on his word of honor, and not 
onl}'- would they go and hunt for five or six months in the 
i.orth, enduring all the hardships of that trying mode of 
life, with little else but moat of game to subsist on, but 
they willingly went seven hundred or eight hundred miles 
to Graham's Town, receiving for wages only a musket 
worth filYeen shillings. 

No one ever deceived them, except one man ; and, as 1 
believed that he was afllieted with a slight degree of the 
insanity of greediness, I upheld the honor of the English 
name by paying his debts. As the guides of Mr. Gumming 
were furnished through my influence, and usually got some 
strict charges as to their behavior before parting, looking 
npon me in the light of a fother, they always came to give 
me an account of their service, and told most of those 
hunting-adventures which have since been given to the 
world, before we had the pleasure of hearing our friend 
relate them himself by our own fireside. I had thus a tole- 
rably good opportunity of testing their accuracy, and I 
have no hesitation in saying that, for those who love that 
Bort of thing, Mr. Cumming's book conveys a truthful idea 
of South African hunting. Some things in it require ex- 
planation, but the numbers of animals said to have beeu 
met with and killed are by no means improbable, consider- 



SPORTING. 85 

ing the amount of large game then in the country. Two 
other gentlemen hunting in the same region destroyed in 
one season no fewer than seventy-eight rhinoceroses alone. 
Sportsmen, however, would not now find an equal number ; 
for, as guns are introduced among the tribes, all these fine 
animals melt away like snow in spring. In the more 
remote districts, where fire-arms have not yet been intro- 
duced, with the single exception of the rhinoceros, the 
game is to be found in numbers much greater than Mr. 
Gumming ever saw. The tsetse is, however, an insuper- 
able barrier to hunting with horses there, and Europeans 
can do nothing on foot. The step of the elephant when 
charging the hunter, though apparently not quick, is so 
long that the pace equals the speed of a good horse at a 
canter. A young sportsman, no matter how great among 
pheasants, foxes, and hounds, would do well to pause before 
resolving to brave fever for the excitement of risking such 
a terrific charge; the scream or trumpeting of this enor- 
mous brute when infuriated is more like what the shriek 
of a French steam-whistle would be to a man standing on 
the dangerous part of a railroad than any other earthly 
sound : a horse unused to it will sometimes stand shivering 
instead of taking his rider out of danger. It has happened 
often that the poor animal's legs do their duty so badly 
that he falls and causes his rider to be trodden into a 
mummy; or, losing his presence of mind, the rider may 
allow the horse to dash under a tree and crack his cranium 
against a branch. As one charge from an elephant has 
made embryo Nimrods bid a final adieu to the chase, inci- 
pient Gordon Cummings might try their nerves by stand- 
ing on railways till the engines were within a few yards 
of them. Hunting elephants on foot would be not less 
dangerous,* unless the Ceylon mode of killing them by 



* Since writing the above statement, it has received confirmation in 
the reported death of Mr. Walhberg while hunting elephants on foot at 
Lake Ngami. 

8 



tJ6 SCARCITY OF WATER. 

one shot could be followed : it has never been tried in 
Africa. 

Advancing to some wells beyond Letloche, at a spot 
named Kanne, we found them carefully hedged round by 
the people of a Bakalahari village situated near the spot. 
We had then sixty miles of country in front without water, 
and very distressing for the oxen, as it is generally deep 
soft sand. There is one sucking-place, around which were 
congregated great numbers of Bushwomen with their egg- 
shells and reeds. Mathuluane now contained no water, and 
Motlatsa only a small supply; so we sent the oxen across 
the countr}'^ to the deep well Nkauane, and half were lost 
on the way. "When found at last, they had been five whole 
days without water. Yery large numbers of elands were 
met with, as usual, though they seldom can get a sip of 
drink. Many of the plains here have large expanses of 
grass without trees ; but you seldom see a treeless horizon. 



CHAPTEE YIII. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES THE COUNTRY OF THE MAKOLOLO. 

The Bakalahari, who live at Motlatsa Wells, have always 
been very friendly to us, and listen attentively to instruc- 
tion conveyed to them in their own tongue. It is, how- 
ever, difficult to give an idea to a European of the little 
effect teaching produces; because no one can realize the 
degradation to which their minds have been sunk by cen- 
turies of barbarism and hard struggling for the necessaries 
of life : like most others, they listen with respect and 
attention; but, when we kneel down and address an 
unseen Being, the position and the act often appear to 
them so ridiculous that they cannot refrain from bursting 
into uncontrollable laughter. After a few services they 



EFFECTS OP MISSIONARY EFFORTS. 87 

get over this tendency. I was once present when a mis- 
sionary attempted to sing among a wild heathen tribe of 
BechuanaSj who had no music in their composition : the 
etfeot on the risible faculties of the audience was such that 
the tears actually ran down their cheeks. Nearly all their 
thoughts are directed to the supply of their bodily wants ; 
and this has been the case with the race for ages. If asked, 
then, what effect the preaching of the gospel has at the com- 
mencement on such individuals, I am unable to tell, except 
that some have confessed long afterward that they then first 
began to pray in secret. Of the effects of a long-continued 
course of instruction there can be no reasonable doubt, as 
mere nominal belief has never been considered suflScient 
proof of conversion by any body of missionaries ; and, after 
the change which has been brought about by this agency, 
we have good reason to hope well for the future : those I 
have myself witnessed behaving in the manner described; 
when kindly treated in sickness, often utter imploring 
words to Jesus, and, I believe, sometimes really do pray to 
him in their afflictions. As that great Redeemer of the 
guilty seeks to save all he can, we may hope that they 
find mercy through his blood, though little able to appre- 
ciate the sacrifice he made. 

Leaving Motlatsa on the 8th of February, 1853, we 
passed down the Mokoko, which, in the memory of per- 
sons now living, was a flowing stream. 

At Kchokotsa, the rainy season having this year been 
delayed beyond the usual time, we found during the day 
the thermometer stand at 96° in the coolest possible 
shade. 

We dug out several wells; and, as we had on each occa- 
sion to wait till the water flowed in again, and then allow 
our cattle to feed a day or two and slake their thirso 
thoroughly, as far as that could be done, before starting, 
our progress was but slow. At Koobe there was such a 
mass of mud in the pond, worked up by the wallowing 
rhinoceros to the consistency of mortar, that only by great 



88 THE BUSHMEN. 

labor could we get a space cleared at one side for the watei 
to ooze through and collect in for the oxen. 

At Eapesh we came among our old friends the Bushmen, 
under Horoye. This man, Horoye, a good specimen of 
that tribe, and his son Mokantsa, and others, were at least 
six feet high, and of a darker color than the Bushmen of 
the south. They have always plenty of food and water ; 
and, as they frequent the Zouga as often as the game in 
company with which they live, their life is very different 
from that of the inhabitants of the thirsty plains of the 
Kalahari. 

Those among whom we now were kill many elephants, 
and, when the moon is full, choose that time for the chase, 
on account of its coolness. Hunting this animal is the 
best test of courage this country affords. The Bushmen 
choose the moment succeeding a charge, when the ele- 
phant is out of breath, to run in and give him a stab with 
their long-bladed spears. In this case the uncivilized have 
the advantage over us ; but I believe that, with half their 
training, Englishmen would beat the Bushmen. 

At Maila we spent a Sunday with Kaisa, the head-man 
of a village of Mashona, who had fled from the iron sway 
of Mosilikatse, whose country lies east of this. I wished 
him to take charge of a packet of letters for England, to 
be forwarded when, as is the custom of the Bamangwato, 
the Bechuanas come hither in search of skins and food 
among the Bushmen; but he could not be made to compre- 
hend that there was no danger in the consignment. Ho 
feared the responsibility and guilt if any thing should hap- 
pen to them ; so I had to bid adieu to all hope of letting 
my family hear of my welfare till I should reach the west 
coast. 

At Unku we came into a tract of country which had 
been visited by refreshing showers long before, and every 
spot was covered with grass run up to seed, and the flowers 
of the forest were in full bloom. Instead of the dreary 
prospect around Koobe and Nchokotsa, we had here a do- 



PARTY ATTACKED BY FEVER. 89 

ligLtftil scene, — all the ponds full of water, and the birds 
twittering joyfully. As the game can now obtain water 
everywhere, they become very shy, and cannot be found 
in their accustomed haunts. 

1st March. — The thermometer in the shade generally 
stood at 98° from 1 to 3 p.m.; but it sank as low as 65° by 
night; to that the heat was by no means exhausting. At 
the suriice of the ground, in the sun, the thermometer 
marked 125°, and, three inches below it, 138°. The hand 
cannot le held on the ground, and even the horny soles of 
the feet of the natives must be protected by sandals of 
hide ; yet the ants were busy working on it. The water 
in the ponds was as high as 100° ; but, as water does not 
conduct heat readily downward, deliciously-cool water 
may be obtained by any one walking into the middle and 
lifting up the water from the bottom to the surface with 
his hands. 

Proceeding to the north, from Kama-kama, we entered 
into dense Mohonono bush, which required the constant 
application of the axe by three of our party for two days. 
This bush has fine silvery leaves, and the bark has a sweet 
taste. The elephant, with his usual delicacy of taste, feeds 
much on it. On emerging into the plains beyond, we found 
a number of Bushmen, who afterward proved very service- 
able. The rains had been copious ; but now great numbers 
of pools were drying up. Lotus-plants abounded in them, 
and a low, sweet-scented plant covered their banks. 
Breezes came occasionally to us from these drying-up 
pools ; but the pleasant odor they carried caused sneezing 
in both myself and people ; and on the 10th of March (when 
in lat. 19° 16' IF S., long. 24° 24' E.) we were brought 
to a stand by four of the party being seized with fever. 
I had seen this disease before, but did not at once recognise 
it as the African fever : I imagined it was only a bilious 
attack arising from full feeding on flesh; for, the large 
game having been very abundant, we always had a good 
Bupply. But, instead of the first sufferers recovering soon, 

8* 



90 GRAPES. 

every man of our party was in a few days laid low, except 
a Bakwain and myself. He managed the oxen, while I 
attended to the wants of the patients and went out occa- 
sionally with the Bushmen to get a zebra or buffalo, so as 
to induce them to remain with us. 

Here for the first time I had leisure to follow the instruc- 
tions of my kind teacher, Mr. Maclear, and calculated seve- 
ral longitudes from lunar distances. The hearty manner 
in which that eminent astronomer and frank, friendly man 
had promised to aid me in calculating and verifying my 
work conduced more than any thing else to inspire mo 
with perseverance in making astronomical observations 
throughout the journey. 

We wished to avoid the tsetse of our former path, so 
kept a course on the magnetic meridan from Lurilopepe. 
The necessity of making a new path much increased our 
toil. We were, however, rewarded in lat. 18° with a sight 
we had not enjoyed the year before, namely, large patches 
of grape-bearing vines. There they stood before my eyes; 
but the sight was so entirely unexpected that I stood some 
time gazing at the clusters of grapes with which they were 
loaded, with no more thought of plucking than if I had 
been beholding them in a dream. The Bushmen know 
and eat them ; but they are not well flavored, on account 
of the great astringency of the seeds, which are in shape 
and size like split peas. The elephants are fond of the 
fruit, plant, and root alike. 

The forest, through which we were slowly toiling, daily 
became more dense, and we were kept almost constantly 
at work with the axe j there was much more leafiness in 
the trees here than farther south. The leaves are chiefly 
of the pinnate and bi-pinnate forms, and are exceedingly 
beautiful when seen against the sky : a great variety of 
the papilionaceous family grow in this part of the country. 

Fleming had until this time always assisted to drive his 
own wagon, but about the end of March he knocked up, as 
well as his people. As I could not drive two wagons, J 



Bushmen's mode of lion-hunting. 91 

Bhared with him the remaining water, half a caskful, and 
went on, with the intention of coming back for him as 
soon as we should reach the next pool. Heavy rain now 
commenced; I was employed the whole day in cutting down 
trees, and every stroke of the axe brought down a thick 
shower on my back, which in the hard work was very 
refreshing, as the water found its way down into my shoes 
In the evening we met some Bushmen, who volunteered 
to show us a pool ; and, having unyoked, I walked some 
miles in search of it. As it became dark they showed 
their politeness — a quality which is by no means confined 
entirely to the civilized — by walking in front, breaking the 
branches which hung across the path, and pointing out the 
fallen trees. On returning to the wagon, we found that 
being left alone had brought out some of Fleming's energy, 
for he had managed to come up. 

As the water in this pond dried up, we were soon 
obliged to move again. One of the Bushmen took out his 
dice, and, after throwing them, said that God told him to 
go home. He threw again, in order to show me the com- 
mand, but the opposite result followed; so he remained 
and was useful, for we lost the oxen again by a lion driving 
them off to a very great distance. The lions here are not 
often heard. They seem to have a wholesome dread of the 
Bushmen, who, when they observe evidence of a lion's 
having made a full meal, follow up his spoor so quietly 
that his slumbers are not disturbed. One discharges a 
poisoned arrow from a distance of only a few feet, while 
his companion simultaneously throws his skin cloak on the 
beast's head. The sudden surprise makes the lion lose his 
presence of mind, and he bounds away in the greatest con- 
fusion and terror. Our friends here showed me the poison 
which they use on these occasions. It is the entrails 
of a caterpillar called N'gwa, half an inch long. They 
squeeze out these, and place them all around the bottom 
of the barb, and allow the poison to dry in the sun. They 
are very careful in cleaning their nails after woming with 



92 THE SANSHUREH. 

it, as a small portion introduced into a scratch acts like 
morbid matter in dissection-wounds. The agony is so 
great that the person cuts himself, calls for his mother's 
breast as if he were returned in idea to his childhood again, 
or flies from human habitations a raging maniac. The 
effects on the lion are equally terrible. He is heard moan- 
ing in distress, and becomes furious, biting the trees and 
ground in rage. 

As the Bushmen have the reputation of curing the 
wounds of this poison, I asked how this was effected. 
They said that they administer the caterpillar itself in 
combination with fat; they also rub fat into the wound, 
saying that ^^ the N'gwa wants fat, and, when it does not 
find it in the body, kills the man: we give it what it 
wants, and it is content :" a reason which will commend 
itself to the enlightened among ourselves. 

None of the men of our party had died, but two seemed 
unlikely to recover; and Kibopechoe, my willing Mokwain, 
at last became troubled with boils, and then got all the 
symptoms of fever. As he lay down, the others began to 
move about, and complained of weakness only. Believing 
that frequent change of place was conducive to their 
recovery, we moved along as much as we could, and came 
to the hill N'gwa, (lat. 18° 27' 20" S., long. 24° 13' 36" E.) 
This being the only hill we had seen since leaving Bamang- 
wato, we felt inclined to take off our hats to it. It is 
three or four hundred feet high, and covered with trees. 

Our Bushmen wished to leave us, and, as there was no 
use in trying to thwart these independent gentlemen, I 
paid them, and allowed them to go. The payment, how- 
ever, acted as a charm on some strangers who happened 
to be present, and induced them to volunteer their aid. 

We at last came to the Sanshureh, which presented an 
impassable barrier; so we drew up under a magnificent 
baobab-tree, (lat. 18° 4' 27" S., long. 24° 6' 20" E.,) and 
resolved to explore the river for a ford. The great quan- 
tity of water we had passed through was part of the 



BANKS OP THE CHOBE. 93 

annual inundation of the Chobe; and this, which appeared 
a large, deep river, filled in many parts with reeds, and 
having hippopotami in it, is only one of the branches by 
which it sends its superabundant water to the southeast. 

"We made so many attempts to get over the Sanshureh, 
both to the west and east of the wagon, in the hope of 
reaching some of the Makololo on the Chobe, that my 
Bushmen friends became quite tired of the work. By 
means of presents I got them to remain some days; but at 
last they slipped away by night, and I was fain to take 
one of the strongest of my still weak companions and cross 
the river in a pontoon, the gift of Captains Codrington and 
Webb. We each carried some provisions and a blanket, 
and penetrated about twenty miles to the westward, in 
the hoj^e of striking the Chobe. It was much nearer to us 
in a northerly direction, but this we did not then know. 
The plain, over which we splashed the whole of the first 
day, was covered with water ankle deep, and thick grass 
which reached above the knees. In the evening we came 
to an immense wall of reeds, six or eight feet high, without 
any opening admitting of a passage. When we tried to 
enter, the water always became so deep that we were fain 
to desist. We concluded that we had come to the banks 
of the river we were in search of; so we directed our course 
to some trees which appeared in the south, in order to get 
a bed and a view of the adjacent locality. Having shot a 
leche, and made a glorious fire, we got a good cup of tea 
and had a comfortable night. 

Next morning, by climbing the highest trees, we could 
see a fine large sheet of water, but surrounded on all sides 
Dy the same impenetrable belt of reeds. This is the broad 
part of the river Chobe, and is called Zabesa. Two tree- 
covered islands seemed to be much nearer to the water 
than the shore on which we were ; so we made an attempt 
to get to them first. It was not the reeds alone we had 
to pass through; a peculiar serrated grass, which at certain 
angles cut the hands like a razor, was mingled with th© 



94 THE CIIOBE. 

I'ccd, and tho climbing convolvulus, with sitilks which felt 
an strong us whipcord, bound tho miiBS together. Wo felt 
like pygmies in it, and often the only way we could get 
on was by both of us leaning against a part and bending 
it down till we could stand upon it. The perspiration 
streamed olf our bodies, and as the sun rose high, there 
being no ventilation among the reeds, the heat was stifling, 
and tho water, which was up to the knees, felt agreeably 
refreshing. After some hours' toil wo reached one of the 
islands. Hero wo met an old friend, the bramble-bush. 
My strong moleskins were quite worn through at the knees, 
and the leather trousers of my companion were torn and 
nis legs bleeding. Tearing my handkerchief in two, I tied 
the pieces round my knees, and then encountered another 
dilliculty. We were still forty or fifty yards from tho clear 
water, but now wo were opposed by great masses of papy- 
rus, which are like palms in miniature, eight or ten feet 
high, and an inch and a half in diameter. These were 
laced together by twining convolvulus so strongly that the 
weight of both of us could not make way into tho clear 
water. At last w^o fortunately found a passage prepared 
by a hippopotamus. Eager as soon as wo reached the 
island to look along the vista to clear water, I stepped in 
and found it took me at once up to the neck. 

Kcturning nearly w^orn out, wo proceeded up the bank 
of the Chobe till we came to the point of departure of the 
branch Sanshurch ; we then went in the opposite direction, 
or down the Chobe, though from the highest trees we could 
see nothing but one vast expanse of reed, with here and 
there a tree on the islands. This was a hard day's work ; 
and, when we came to a deserted Bayei3'^e hut on an ant- 
hill, not a bit of wood or any thing else could be got for a 
fire except the grass and sticks of the dwelling itself. I 
dreaded the " Tampa7is, '' so common in all old huts; but 
outside of it wo had thoustuids of niosquitos, and cold 
dew began to be deposited, so wo were fain to crawl be- 
neath its shelter. 



ARRIVAL AT MOREMI. 95 

Wo wcro close to the rccds, and could liHtcn to the strange 
Bounds which are often heard there. By day I had seen 
wator-snakcs putting up their heads and swimming about. 
Thci-e were great numbers of otters, {Lutra inunguis, F. 
Cuvier,) which have made little spoors all over the plains 
in search of the fishes, among the tall grass of these flooded 
prairies; curious birds, too, jerked and wriggled among 
these reedy masses, and we heard human-like voices and 
unearthly sounds, with splash, gnggle, jupp, as if rare fun 
were going on in their uncouth haunts. After a damp, 
cold night, we set to, early in the morning, at our work of 
exploring again, but left the pontoon in order to lighten 
our labor. The ant-hills are here very high, some thirty 
feet, and of a base so broad that trees grow on them; while 
the lands, annually flooded, bear nothing but grass. From 
one of these ant-hills we discovered an inlet to the Chobe; 
and, having gone back for the pontoon, we launched our- 
selves on a deep river, here from eighty to one hundred 
yards wide. I gave my companion strict injunctions to 
stick by the pontoon in case a hippopotamus should look 
at us; nor was this caution unnecessary, for one came up 
at our side and made a desperate plunge off. We had 
passed over him. The wave he made caused the pontoon 
to glide quickly away from him. 

We paddled on from mid-day till sunset. There was 
nothing but a wall of reed on each bank, and we saw every 
prospect of spending a supperless night in our float; but, 
just as the short twilight of these parts was commencing, 
we perceived on the north bank the village of Moremi, one 
of the Makololo, whose acquaintance I had made on our 
foimer visit, and who was now located on the island Ma» 
honta, (lat. 17° 58' S., long. 24° 6' E.) The villagers looked 
as we may suppose people do who see a ghost, and in their 
figurative way of speaking said, " JLq has dropped among 
us from the clouds, yet came riding on the back of a hip- 
popotamus ! We Makololo thought no one could cross tho 



96 DEPARTURE FROM LINYANTI. 

Chobe without our knowledge, but here he drops among 
us like a bird." 

Next day we returned in canoes across the flooded lands, 
and found that, in our absence, the men had allowed the 
cattle to wander into ^ very small patch of wood to the 
west containing the tsetse; this carelessness cost me ten 
fine large oxen. After remaining a few days, some of the 
head-men of the Makololo came down from Linyanti, with 
a large party of Barotse, to take us across the river. This 
they did in fine style, swimming and diving among the 
oxen more like alligators than men, and taking the wagons 
to pieces and carrying them across on a number of canoes 
lashed together. We were now among friends ; so, going 
about thirty miles to the north, in order to avoid the still 
flooded lands on the north of the Chobe, we turned west- 
ward toward Linyanti, (lat. 18° 17' 20" S., long. 23° 60' 9" 
E.,) where we arrived on the 23d of May, 1853. This is 
the capital town of the Makololo, and only a short distance 
from our wagon-stand of 1851, (lat. 18° 20' S., long. 23° 
50' E.) 



CHAPTEK IX. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE LABORS AS A MISSIONARY AMONG THE 

MAKOLOLO. 

The whole population of Linyanti, numbering between 
six and seven thousand souls, turned out en masse to see 
the wagons in motion. They had never witnessed the phe- 
nomenon before, we having on the former occasion departed 
by night. Sekeletu, now in power, received us in what is 
considered royal style, setting before us a great number 
of pots of boyaloa, the beer of the country. These were 
brought by women, and each bearer takes a good draught 
of the beer when she sets it down, by way of " tasting,*' 
to show that there is no poison. 



THE COURT HERALD. 97 

Tho court herald, an old man who occupied the pout also 
in Sebituane's time, stood up, and after some antics, such 
as leaping, and shouting at the top of his voice, roared out 
some adulatory sentences, as, '^ Don't I see the white man ? 
Don't I see the comrade of Sebituane? Don't I see the 
father of Sekeletu?" — " We want sleep." — " Give your son 
sleep, my lord," &c. &c. The perquisites of this man are 
the heads of all the cattle slaughtered by the chief, and he 
even takes a share of the tribute before it is distributed 
and taken out of the kotla. He is expected to utter all th^ 
proclamations^ call assemblies, keep the kotla clean, and 
the fire burning every evening, and when a person is 
executed in public he drags away the body. 

I found Sekeletu a young man of eighteen years of age, 
of that dark yellow or coffee-and-milk color of which the 
Makololo are so proud, because it distinguishes them 
considerably from the black tribes on the rivers. He is 
about five feet seven in height, and neither so good-looking 
nor of so much ability as his father w^as, but is equally 
friendly to the English. Sebituane installed his daughter 
Mamochisane into the chieftainship long before his death, 
but, with all his acuteness, the idea of her having a hus- 
band who should not be her lord did not seem to enter his 
mind. He wished to make her his successor, probably in 
imitation of some of the negro tribes with whom he had 
come into contact; but, being of the Bechuana race, he 
could not look upon the husband except as the woman's 
lord; so he told her all tho men were hers, — she might 
take any one, but ought to keep none. In fiict, he thought 
ehe might do with the men what he could do with the 
wc-men ; but these men had other wives ; and, according 
to a saying in the country, '^ the tongues of women can- 
not be governed," they made her miserable by their re- 
marks. One man whom she chose was even called her wife, 
and her son the child of Mamochisane's wife; but the ar- 
rangement was so distasteful to Mamochisane herself that, 
asi &oon as Sebituane died, she said she never would consent 
G 9 



98 SEKELETU BECOMES CHIEFTAIN. 

to govern the Makololo so long as she had a brother living, 
Sekeletu, being afraid of another member of the family, 
Mpepe, who had pretensions to the chieftainship, urged his 
sister strongly to remain as she had always been, and 
allow him to support her authority by leading the Mako- 
lolo when they went forth to war. Three days were spent 
in public discussion on the point. Mpepe insinuated that 
Sekeletu was not the lawful son of Sebituane, on account 
of his mother having been the wife of another chief before 
her marriage with Sebituane; Mamochisane, however, 
upheld Sekeletu's claims, and at last stood up in the as- 
sembly and addressed him with a womanly gush of tears : 
— " I have been a chief only because my father wished it. 
I always would have preferi-ed to be married and have a 
family like other women. You, Sekeletu, must be chief, 
and build up your father's house." This was a death-blow 
to the hopes of Mpepe, who was soon after speared for an 
attempt to assassinate Sekeletu. 

Soon after our arrival at Liny an ti, Sekeletu took me 
aside, and pressed me to mention those things I liked best 
and hoped to get from him. Any thing, either in or out 
of his town, should be freely given if I would only men- 
tion it. I explained to him that my object was to elevate 
him and his people to be Christians; but he replied he did 
not wish to learn to read the Book, for he was afraid " it 
might change his heart, and make him content with only 
one wife, like Sechele." It was of little use to urge that 
the change of heart implied a contentment with one wife 
equal to his present complacency in polygamy. Such a 
preference after the change of mind could not now be 
understood by him any more than the real, unmistakable 
pleasure of religious services can by those who have not 
experienced what is known by the term the "new heart." 
I assured him that nothing was expected but by his own 
voluntary decision. " No, no ; he wanted always to have 
five wives at least." I liked the frankness of Sekeletu, for 



PUBLIC RELIGIOUS SERVICE. 99 

nothing is so wearying to the spirit as talking to those 
who agree with every thing advanced. 

At our public religious services in the kotla, the Mako- 
lolo women always behaved with decorum from the first, 
except at the conclusion of the praj^er. When all knelt 
down, many of those who had children, in following the 
example of the rest, bent over their little ones : the chil- 
dren, in terror of being crushed to death, set up a simul- 
taneous yell, which so tickled the whole assembly there 
was often a subdued titter, to be turned into a hearty 
laugh as soon as they heard Amen. 

The numbers who attended at the summons of the 
herald, who acted as beadle, were often from five to seven 
hundred. The service consisted of reading a small portion 
of the Bible and giving an explanatory address, usually 
short enough to prevent weariness or want of attention. 
So long as we continue to hold services in the kotla, the as- 
sociations of the place are unfavorable to solemnit}^; hence 
it is always desirable to have a place of worship as soon as 
possible ; and it is of importance, too, to treat such place 
with reverence, as an aid to secure that serious attention 
which religious subjects demand. This will appear more 
evident when it is recollected that, in the very spot where 
we had been engaged in acts of devotion, half an hour 
after a dance would be got up ; and these habits cannot be 
at first opposed without the appearance of assuming too 
much authority over them. It is always unwise to hurt 
their feelings of independence. 

To give an idea of the routine followed for months to- 
gether, on other days as well as on Sundays, I may advert 
to my habit of treating the sick for complaints which 
seemed to surmount the skill of their own doctors. I re- 
frained from going to any one unless his own doctor 
wished it or had given up the case. This led to my 
having a selection of the severer cases only, and j)revented 
the doctors* being offended at my taking their practice out 
of their hands. When attacked by fever myself, and wish 



300 TEACHING THE MAKOLOLC TO READ. 

ing to ascertain what their practices were, I could safely 
intrust myself in their hands, on account of their well- 
known friendly feelings. 

I proposed to teach the Makololo to read ; but, for the 
reasons mentioned, Sekeletu at first declined : after some 
weeks, however, Motibe, his father-in-law, and some others, 
determined to brave the mj^sterious book. To all who 
have not acquired it, the knowledge of letters is quite 
unfathomable; there is naught like it within the compasa 
of their observation ; and we have no comparison with 
any thing except pictures, to aid them in comprehending 
the idea of signs of words. It seems to them supernatural 
that we see in a book things taking place or having oc- 
curred at a distance. No amount of explanation conveys 
the idea unless they learn to read. Machinery is equally 
inexplicable, and money nearly as much so until they see 
it in actual use. They are familiar with barter alone; and 
in the centre of the country, where gold is totally un- 
known, if a button and sovereign were left to their choice, 
they would prefer the former on account of its having an 
eye. 

In beginning to learn, Motibe seemed to himself in the 
position of the doctor, who was obliged to drink his potion 
before the patient, to shovv that it contained nothing detri- 
mental ; after he had mastered the alphabet, and reported 
the thing so far safe, Sekeletu and his young companions 
came forward to try for themselves. He must have re- 
solved to watch the effects of the book against his views 
on polygamy, and abstain whenever he perceived any ten- 
dency, in reading it, toward enforcing him to put his wives 
away. A number of men learned the alphabet in a short 
time, and were set to teach others, but before much pro- 
gress could be made I was on my way to Loanda. 

As I had declined to name any thing as a present from 
Sekeletu, excejit a canoe to take me up the river, he brought 
ten fine elephants* tusks and laid them down beside my 
wagon. He would take no denial, though I told him I 



SEKELETU S PRESENT. 101 

Bhould prefer to see him trading with Fleming, a man of 
color from the West Indies, who had come for the purpose. 
I had, during the eleven years of my previous course, 
invariably abstained from taking presents of ivory, from an 
idea that a religious instructor degraded himself by accept- 
ing gifts from those whose spiritual welfare he professed 
to seek. My precedence of all traders in the line of dis- 
covery put me often in the way of very handsome offers; 
but I alwaj^s advised the donors to sell their ivory to 
traders, who would be sure to follow, and when at some 
future time they had become rich by barter they might 
remember me or my children. When Lake Ngami was 
discovered, 1 might have refused permission to a trader 
who accompanied us; but when he apj)lied for leave to 
form part of our company, knowing that Mr. Oswell 
would no more trade than myself, and that the people of 
the lake would be disappointed if they could not dispose 
of their ivory, I willingly granted a sanction, without 
which his people would not at that time have ventured so 
far. This was surely preferring the interest of another to 
my own. The return I got for this was a notice in one 
of the Cape papers that this " man was the true discoverer 
of the lake V 

The conclusion I had come to was that it is quite lawful, 
though perhaps not expedient, for missionaries to trade; 
but barter is the only means by which a missionary in the 
interior can pay his way, as money has no value. In all 
the journeys I had previously undertaken for wider diffu- 
sion of the gospel, the extra expenses were defrayed from 
my salary of £100 per annum. This sum is sufficient to 
enable a missionary to live in the interior of South Africa, 
supposing he has a garden capable of yielding corn and 
vegetables; but should he not, and still consider that six 
or eight months cannot lawfully be sj^ent simply in getting 
goods at a lower price than they can be had from itinerant 
traders, the sum mentioned is barely sufficient for the 

poorest fare and plainest apparel. As we never felt our- 

9* 



102 PRESENTS AND TRADING. 

Bclvcs justified in making journeys to the colony for the 
eiikc of Hccuring bargiiins, the most frugal living was ne- 
cessary to enable us to be a little charitable to others; but 
Avhen to this were added extra travelling-expenses^ the 
wants of an increasing fiimil}^, and liberal gifts to chiefs, it 
was difHcult to make both ends meet. The pleasure of 
missionary labor would bo enhanced if one could devote 
his life to the heathen without drawing a salar}^ from a 
society at all. The luxury of doing good from one's own 
private resources, without appearing to either natives or 
Europeans to be making a gain of it, is far preferable, and 
an object worthy the ambition of the rich. But few men 
of fortune, however, now devote themselves to Christian 
missions, as of old. Presents were always given to the 
chiefs whom wo visited, and nothing accepted in return j 
but when Sebituane (in 1851) offered some ivory, I took 
it, and was able by its sale to present his son with a num- 
ber of really useful articles of a higher value than I had 
ever been able to give before to any chief In doing this, 
of course, I appeared to trade, but, feeling I had a right to 
do so, I felt perfectty easy in my mind ; and, as I still held 
the view of the inexpediency of combining the two profes- 
sions, I was glad of the proposal of one of the most honor- 
able merchants of Cape Town, Mr. H. E. Eutherford, that 
he should risk a sum of money in Fleming's hands for the 
purpose of attempting to develop a trade with the Mako- 
lolo. It was to this man I suggested Sekeletu should sell 
the tusks which he had presented for my acceptance; but 
the chief refused to take them back from me. The goods 
which Fleming had brought were ill adapted for the use 
of the natives, but he got a pretty good load of ivory in 
exchange; and though it was his first attempt at trading, 
and the distance travelled over made the expenses enor- 
mous, he was not a loser by the trip. Other traders fol- 
lowed, who demanded 90 lbs. of ivory for a musket. The 
Makololo, knowing nothing of steelyards, but supposing 
that they were meant to cheat them, declined to trade 



•PRESENTS TO SEKELETU. 103 

except by exchanging one bull and one cow elephant's 
tusk for each gun. This would average 70 lbs. of ivory, 
which sells at the Cape for 5s. per pound, for a second- 
hand musket worth 10s. I, being sixty miles distant, did 
not witness this attempt at barter, but, anxious to enable 
my countrymen to drive a brisk trade, told the Makololo 
to sell my ten tusks on their own account for whatever 
they would bring. Seventy tusks were for sale, but, the 
parties not understanding each other's talk, no trade was 
established; and when I passed the spot some time after- 
ward I found that the whole of that ivory had been de- 
stroyed by an accidental fire, which broke out in the village 
when all the people were absent. Success in trade is as 
much dependent on knowledge of the language as success 
in travelling. 

I had brought with me as presents an improved breed 
of goats, fowls, and a pair of cats. A superior bull was 
bought, also as a gift to Sekeletu; but I was compelled to 
leave it on account of its having become foot-sore. As the 
Makololo are very fond of improving the breed of their 
domestic animals, they were much pleased with my selec- 
tion. I endeavored to bring the bull, in performance of a 
promise made to Sebituane before he died. Admiring a 
calf which we had with us, he proposed to give me a cow for 
it, which in the native estimation was offering three times 
its value. I presented it to him at once, and promised to 
bring him another and a better one. Sekeletu was mui;h 
gratified by my attempt to keep my word given to lis 
father 



104 THE FEVER. 



CHAPTEE X. 

BICKNESS OF DR. LIVINGSTONE — ACCOUNT OF SEKELETU AND 

HIS SUBJECTS. 

On the 30th of May I was seized with fever, for the first 
time. We reached the town of Linyaoti on the 23d ; and, 
as my habits were suddenly changed from great exertion to 
comparative inactivity, at the commencement of the cold 
season I suffered from a severe attack of stoppage of the 
secretions, closely resembling a common cold. Warm baths 
and drinks relieved me, and I had no idea but that I was 
now recovering from the effects of a chill got by leaving 
the warm wagon in the evening in order to conduct family 
worship at my people's fire. But on the 2d of June a 
relapse showed to the Makololo, who knew the complaint, 
that my indisposition was no other than the fever, with 
which I have since made a more intimate acquaintance. 
Cold east winds prevail at this time; and as they come 
over the extensive flats inundated by the Chobe, as well as 
many other districts where pools of rain-water are now 
drying up, they may be supposed to be loaded with mala- 
ria and watery vapor, and many cases of fever follow. The 
usual symptoms of stopped secretion are manifested, — 
shivering and a feeling of coldness, though the skin is 
quite hot to the touch of another. The heat in the axillse, 
over the heart and region of the stomach, was in my case 
100°, but along the spine and at the nape of the neck 103°. 
The internal processes were all, with the exception of the 
kidneys and liver, stopped ; the latter, in its efforts to free 
the blood of noxious particles, often secretes enormous 
quantities of bile. There were pains along the spine, and 
frontal headache. Anxious to ascertain whether the natives 
possessed the knowledge of any remedy of which we were 
Ignorant, I requested the assistance of one of Sekeletu's 
doctors lie put some roots into a pot with water, and, 



NATIVE REMEDIES. 105 

when it was boiling, placed it on a spot beneath a blanket 
thrown around both rae and it. This produced no im 
mediate effect : he then got a small bundle of different 
kinds of medicinal woods, and, burning them in a potsherd 
nearly to ashes, used the smoke and hot vapor arising from 
them as an auxiliary to the other in causing diaphoresis. 
I fondly hoped that they had a more potent remedy than 
our own medicines afford ; but after being stewed in their 
vapor-baths, smoked like a red herring over green twigs, 
and charmed secundum artem, I concluded that I could euro 
the fever more quickly than they can. If we employ a wet 
sheet and a mild aperient in combination with quinine, in 
addition to the native remedies, they are an important aid 
in curing the fever, as they seem to have the same stimu- 
lating effects on the alimentary canal as these means have 
on the external surface. Purgatives, general bleeding, or 
indeed any violent remedies, are injurious; and the ap- 
pearance of a herpetic eruption near the mouth is regarded 
as an evidence that no internal organ is in danger. There 
is a good deal in not ^^ giving in" to this disease. He who 
is low-spirited, and apt to despond at every attack, will die 
sooner than the man who is not of such a melancholic nature. 
The Makololo had made a garden and planted maize for 
me, that, as they remarked when I was parting with them 
to proceed to the Cape, I might have food to eat when I 
returned, as well as other people. The maize was now 
pounded by the women into fine meal. This they do in 
large wooden mortars, the counterpart of which may be 
Been depicted on the Egyptian monuments. Sekeletu added 
to this good supply of meal ten or twelve jars of honey, 
each of which contained about two gallons. Liberal sup- 
plies of groundnuts were also furnished every time the 
tributary tribes brought their dues to Linyanti, and an ox 
was given for slaughter every week or two. Sekeletu also 
appropriated two cows to be milked for us every mornmg 
and evening. This was in accordance with the acknow- 
ledged rule throughout the country, that the chief should 



106 EXTENSIVE CULTIVATION OF LAND. 

feed all the strangers wlio come on any special business to 
him and take up their abode in his kotla. 

The Makololo cultivate a large extent of land around 
their villages. Those of them who are real Basutos still 
retain the habits of that tribe, and may be seen going out 
with their wives with their hoes in hand, — a state of things 
never witnessed at Kolobeng, or among any other Be- 
chuana or Caffre tribe. The great chief Moshesh affords 
an example to his people annually, by not only taking the hoe 
m hand, but working hard with it on certain public occasionp. 
His Basutos are of the same family with the Makololo to 
whom I refer. The younger Makololo, who have been 
accustomed from their infancy to lord it over the conquered 
Makalaka, have unfortunately no desire to imitate the 
agricultural tastes of their fathers, and expect their sub- 
jects to perform all the manual labor. They are the aris- 
tocracy of the country, and once possessed almost unlimited 
power over their vassals. Their privileges were, however, 
much abridged by Sebituane himself 

The tribes which Sebituane subjected in this great 
country pass by the general name of Makalaka. The Ma- 
kololo were composed of a great number of other tribes, 
as well as these central negroes. The nucleus of the whole 
were Basuto, vho came with Sebituane from a compara- 
tively cold an 1 hilly region in the south. When he con- 
quered various tribes of the Bechuanas, as Bakwains, 
Bangwaketze, Bamangwato, Batauana, &c., he incorpo- 
rated the young of these tribes into his own. Great mor- 
tality by fever having taken place in the original stock, he 
wisely adopted the same plan of absorption on a large scale 
with the Makalaka. So we found him with even the sons 
of the chiefs of the Barotse closely attached to his person : 
and they say to this day, if any thing else but natural 
death had assailed their father, every one of them would 
have laid down his life in his defence. One reason for their 
strong affection was their emancipation by the decree of 
Sebituane, ^' all are children of the chief." 



WARLIKE DEMONSTRATION. 107 

Sekelctu receives tribute from a great number of tribo.i 
in corn or dura, groundnuts, hoes, spears, honey, canoes, 
paddles, wooden vessels, tobacco, mutokuane, (^Cannabis sa- 
tiva,) various wild fruits, (dried,) prepared skins, and ivor3\ 
When these articles are brought into the kotla, Sekeletu 
has the honor of dividing them among the loungers who 
usually congregate there. A small portion only is reserved 
for himself. The ivory belongs nominally to him too, but 
this is simply a way of making a fair distribution of the 
profits. The chief sells it only with the approbation of his 
sounsellors, and the proceeds are distributed in open day 
among the people as before. He has the choice of every 
thing; but, if he is not more liberal to others than to him- 
self, he loses in popularity. I have known instances in this 
and other tribes in which individuals aggrieved, because 
they had been overlooked, fled to other chiefs. One discon- 
tented person, having fled to Lechulatebe, was encouraged 
to go to a village of the Bapalleng, on the river Cho or Tso, 
and abstracted the tribute of ivory thence which ought to 
have come to Sekeletu. This theft enraged the whole of 
the Makololo, because they all felt it to be a i^ersonal loss 
Some of Lechulatebe's people having come on a visit to 
Linyanti, a demonstration was made, in which about five 
hundred Makololo, armed, went through a mimic fight ; the 
principal warriors pointed their spears toward the lake 
where Lechulatebe lives, and every thrust in that direction 
was answered by all with the shout, " Hoo !" while every 
stab on the e-round drew out a simultaneous '' Huzz !" On 

O 

these occasions all capable of bearing arms, even the old, 
must turn out at the call. In the time of Sebituane, any 
one remaining in his house was searched for and killed 
without mercy. 

This offence of Lechulatebe was aggravated by repeti- 
tion, and by a song sung in his town accompanying the 
dances, which manifested joy at the death of Sebituane. 
He had enjoined his people to live in peace with those at 
the lake, and Sekeletu felt disposed to follow his advice ; 



108 lechulatebe's provocations. 

but Lechulatebe had now got possession of fire-arms^ and 
considered himself more than a match for the Makololo. 
His father had been dispossessed of many cattle by Sebi- 
tuane; and, as forgiveness is not considered among the 
virtues by the heathen, Lechulatebe thought he had a 
right to recover what he could. As I had a good deal of 
influence with the Makololo, I persuaded them that, before 
they could have peace, they must resolve to give the same 
blessing to others, and they never could do that without 
forgiving and forgetting ancient feuds. It is hard to make 
them feel that shedding of human blood is a great crime ; 
they must be conscious that it is wrong, but, having been 
accustomed to bloodshed from infancy, they are remarkably 
callous to the enormity of the crime of destroying human 
life. 

I sent a message at the same time to Lechulatebe, advising 
him to give up the course he had adopted, and especially 
the song; because, though Sebituane was dead, the arms 
with which he had fought were still alive and strong. 

Sekeletu, in order to follow up his father's instructions 
and promote peace, sent ten cows to Lechulatebe to be ex- 
changed for sheep; these animals thrive well in a bushy 
country like that around the lake, but will scarcely live in 
the flat prairies between the network of waters north of 
the Chobe. The men who took the cows carried a number 
of hoes to purchase goats besides Lechulatebe took the 
cows and sent back an equal number of sheep. 'Now, ac- 
cording to the relative value of sheep and cows in these 
parts, he ought to have sent sixty or seventy. 

One of the men who had h )©s was trying to purchase in 
a village without formal leave from Lechulatebe; this chief 
punished him by making him sit some hours on the broiling 
hot sand, (at least 130°.) This further off'ence put a stop to 
amicable relations between the two tribes altogether. It 
was a case in which a very small tribe, commanded by a 
weak and foolish chief, had got possession of fire-arms, and 
felt conscious of ability to cope with a numerous and war- 



ANT-HILLS, 109 

like race. Such cases are the only ones in which the pos- 
session of fire-arms does evil. The universal effect of the dif- 
fusion of the more potent instruments of warfare in Africa 
is the same as among ourselves. Fire-arms render wars less 
frequent and less bloody. It is indeed exceedingly rare to 
hear of two tribes having guns going to war with each other; 
and, as nearly all the feuds, in the south at least, have been 
about cattle, the risk which must be incurred from long 
Bhots generally proves a preventive to the foray. 

The Makololo were prevailed upon to keep the peace 
during my residence with them, but it was easy to per- 
ceive that public opinion was against sparing a tribe of 
Bechuanas for whom the Makololo entertained the most 
sovereign contempt. The young men would remark, 
'^Lechulatebe is herding our cows for us; let us only go, 
we shall 4ift' the price of them in sheep," &c. 



CHAPTER XL 

DR. LIVINGSTONE LEAVES LINYANTI. 

Having waited a month at Linyanti, (lat. 18° 17' 20" S., 
long. 23° 50' 9" E.,) we again departed, for the purpose of 
ascending the river from Sesheke, (lat. 17° 31' 38" S., long. 
25° 13' E.) To the Barotse country, the capital of which 
is Nariele or JSTaliele, (lat. 15° 24' 17" S., long. 23° 5' 54" E.,) 
I went in compan}^ with Sekeletu and about one hundred 
and sixty attendants. We had most of the young men 
with us, and many of the under-chiefs besides. The country 
between Linyanti and Sesheke is perfectly flat, except 
patches elevated only a few feet above the surrounding 
level. There are also many mounds where the gigantic 
ant-hills of the country have been situated or still appear: 
these mounds are evidently the work of the termites. No 
one who has not seen their gigantic structures can fancy 

10 



110 THE chief's guard. 

tbe industry of these little laborers; they seem to impart 
fertility to the soil which has once passed through their 
mouths, for the Makololo find the sides of ant-hills the 
choice spots for rearing early maize, tobacco, or any thing 
on which they wish to bestow especial care. We had the 
Chobe on our right, with its scores of miles of reed occupy- 
ing the horizon there. It was pleasant to look back on the 
long extended line of our attendants, as it twisted and bent 
according to the curves of the footpath, or in and out behind 
the mounds, the ostrich-feathers of the men waving in thb 
wind. Some had the white ends of ox-tails on their heads, 
hussar fashion, and others great bunches of black ostrich- 
feathers, or caps made of lions' manes. Some wore red 
tunics, or various-colored prints which the chief had bought 
from Fleming ; the common men carried burdens ; the gen- 
tlemen walked with a small club of rhinoceros-horn in their 
hands, and had servants to carry their shields; while the 
''Machaka," battle-axe men, carried their own, and were 
liable at any time to be sent oif a hundred miles on an 
errand, and expected to run all the way. 

Sekeletu is always accompanied by his own Mopato, a 
number of young men of his own age. When he sits down 
they crowd around him ; those who are nearest eat out of 
the same dish, for the Makololo chiefs pride themselves on 
eating with their people. He eats a little, then beckons 
his neighbors to partake. When they have done so, he 
perhaps beckons to some one at a distance to take a share; 
that person starts forward, seizes the pot, and removes it 
to his own companions. The comrades of Sekeletu, wish 
ing to imitate him in riding on my old horse, leaped on the 
backs of a number of half-broken Batoka oxen as they ran ; 
but, having neither saddle nor bridle, the number of tumbles 
they met with was a source of much amusement to the 
rest. 

When we arrived at any village, the women all turned 
out to lulliloo their chief. Their shrill voices, to which 
they give a tremulous sound by a quick motion of the 



RECEPTION AT VILLAGES. Ill 

tongue, peal forth, "Great lion!'' "Great chief!" "Sleep, 
my lord !" &c. The men utter similar salutations ; and 
Sekeletu receives all with becoming indifference. After a 
few minutes' conversation and telling the news, the head 
man of the village, who is almost always a Makololo, rises 
and brings forth a number of large pots of beer. Cala- 
bashes, being used as drinking-cups, are handed round, and 
aft many as can partake of the beverage do so, grasping 
the vessels so eagerly that they are in danger of being 
broken. 

They bring forth also large pots and bowls of thick milk; 
some contain six or eight gallons ; and each of these, as 
well as of the beer, is given to a particular person, who has 
the power to divide it with whom he pleases. The head- 
man of any section of the tribe is generally selected for 
this office. Spoons not being generally in fashion, the milk 
is conveyed to the mouth with the hand. I often presented 
my friends with iron spoons, and it was curious to observe 
how the habit of hand-eating prevailed, though they were 
delighted with the spoons. They lifted out a little with 
the utensil, then put it on the left hand, and ate it out of 
that. 

As the Makololo have great abundance of cattle, and the 
chief is expected to feed all who accompany him, he either 
selects an ox or two of his own from the numerous cattle- 
stations that he possesses at different spots all over the 
country, or is presented by the head-men of the villages 
he visits with as many as he needs, by way of tribute. The 
animals are killed by a thrust from a small javelin in the 
region of the heart, the wound being purposely small in 
order to avoid any loss of blood, which, with the internal 
parts, are the perquisites of the men who perform the work 
of the butcher; hence all are eager to render service in 
that line. Each tribe has its own way of cutting up and 
distributing an animal. Among the Makololo the hump 
and ribs belong to the chief; among the Bakwains the 
breast is his perquisite. After the oxen are cut up, the dif- 



112 SOCIAL MODE OF EATING. 

ferent joints are placed before Sekeletu, and he apportions 
them among the gentlemen of the party. The whole is 
rapidly divided by their attendants, cut into long strips, 
and so many of these are thrown into the fires at once that 
they are nearly put out. Half broiled and burning hot, 
the meat is quickly handed round j every one gets a mouth- 
ful, but no one except the chief has time to masticate. It 
is not the enjoyment of eating they aim at, but to get as 
much of the food into the stomach as possible during the 
fihort time the others are cramming as well as themselves, 
for no one can eat more than a mouthful after the others 
have finished. They are eminently gregarious in their 
eating; and, as they despise any one who eats alone, I 
always poured out two cups of coff'ee at my own meals, so 
that the chief, or some one of the principal men, might 
partake along with me. They all soon become very fond 
of coffee; and, indeed, some of the tribes attribute greater 
fecundity to the daily use of this beverage. They were all 
well acquainted with the sugarcane, as they cultivate it 
in the Barotse country, but knew nothing of the method 
of extracting the sugar from it. They use the cane only 
for chewing. Sekeletu, relishing the sweet coffee and bis- 
cuits, of which I then had a store, said "he knew my heart 
loved him by finding his own heart warming to my food." 
He had been visited during my absence at the Cape by 
some traders and Griquas, and "their coffee did not taste 
half so nice as mine, because they loved his ivory and not 
himself This was certainly an original mode of dis- 
cerning character. 

Sekeletu and I had each a little gipsy-tent in which to 
sleep. The Makololo huts are generally clean, while those 
of the Makalaka are infested with vermin. The cleanli- 
ness of the former is owing to the habit of frequently 
smearing the floors with a plaster composed of cow-dung 
and earth. If we slept in the tent in some villages, the 
mice ran over our faces and disturbed our sleep, or hungry 
prowling dogs would eat our shoes and leave only th© 



MAKOLOLO HUTS. 113 

soles. When they were guilty of this and other misde- 
meanors, we got the loan of a hut. The best sort of Ma- 
kololo huts consist of three circular walls, with small holes 
as doors, each similar to that in a dog-house; and it is 
necessary to bend down the body to get in, even when on 
all-fours. The roof is formed of reeds or straight sticks, 
in shape like a Chinaman's hat, bound firmly together with 
circular bands, which are lashed with the strong inner 
bark of the mimosa-tree. When all prepared except the 
thatch, it is lifted on to the circular wall, the rim resting 
on a circle of poles, between each of which the third wall 
is built. The roof is thatched with fine grass, and sewed 
with the same material as the lashings ; and, as it projects 
far beyond the walls, and reaches within four feet of the 
ground, the shade is the best to be found in the country. 
These huts are very cool in the hottest day, but are close 
and deficient in ventilation by night. 

The bed is a mat made of rushes sewn together with 
twine; the hip-bone soon becomes sore on the hard flat 
surface, as we are not allowed to make a hole in the floor 
to receive the prominent part called trochanter by ana- 
tomists, as we do when sleeping on grass or sand. 

Our course at this time led us to a part above Sesheke, 
called Katonga, where there is a village belonging to a 
Bashubia man named Sekhosi, — latitude 17° 29' 13", longi- 
tude 24° 33'. The river here is somewhat broader than at 
Sesheke, and certainly not less than six hundred yards. 
It flows somewhat slowly in the first part of its eastern 
course. When the canoes came from Sekhosi to take us 
over, one of the comrades of Sebituane rose, and, looking 
to Sekeletu, called out, * • The elders of a host always take 
the lead in an attack." This was understood at once; and 
Sekeletu, with all the young men, were obliged to give the 
elders the precedence, and remain on the southern bank 
and see that all went orderly into the canoes. It took a 
considerable time to ferry over the whole of our large 
party, as, even with quick paddling, from six to eight 
H 10* 



llrt THE LTXAMBYE. 

minnles were spent in the mere passage from bank to 
bank. 

Several days were spent in collecting canoes irom dif- 
ferent villages on the river, which we now learned is called 
by ibe whole of the Barotse the Liambai or Leeambye. 
This we could not ascertain on our lirst visit, and, conse- 
quently, called the river after the town -Sesheke." This 
term Sesheke means "white sand-banks," many of which 
exist at this part. There is another village in the valley 
of the Barotse likewise called Sesheke. and for the same 
reason; but tlie term Leeambye means "the large river," 
or the river J^7^ tWccUcnce. Luambeji. Luambesi. Ambezi, 
Ojimbesi, and Zambesi, &c., are names applied to it at dif- 
ferent parts of its course, according to the dialect spoken, 
and all possess a similar signification, and ex|-»ress the na- 
tive idea of this magnificent stream being the main drain 
of the country. 

In order to a*^ist in the support of our large party, and 
at the same time to see the adjacent country, I went 
several times, during our stay, to the north of the village 
for game. The country is covered with clumps of beauti- 
ful trees, among which fine open glades stretch away in 
every direction ; when the river is in flood these are inun- 
dated, but the tree-covered elevated spots are much more 
numerous here than in the country between the Chobe and 
the Leeambye. The soil is dark loam, as it is everywhere 
on sjx>ts reached by the inundation, while among the trees 
it is sandy, :\nd not covered so densely with grass as else- 
where. A sandy ridge covered with trees, running parallel 
to and about eight miles from the river, is the limit of the 
inundation on the north ; there are large tracts of this 
&andy forest in that direction, till you come to other dis- 
tricts of alluvial soil and fewer trees. The latter soil is 
always found in the vicinity of rivers which either now 
overflow their banks annually or formerly did so. The 
people enjoy rain in sufficient quantity to raise very large 
supplies of grain and groundnuts. 



I 



AN ELAND SHOT. 115 

Great numbers of buffaloes, zebras, tsessebes, tahaetsi, 
and eland, or pobu, grazed undisturbed on tbese plains, so 
that very little exertion was required to secure a fair sup- 
ply of meat for the party during the necessary delay. 
Hunting on foot, as all those who have engaged in it in 
this country will at once admit, is very hard work indeed. 
The heat of the sun by day is so great, even in winter, as 
it now was, that, had there been any one on whom I could 
have thrown the task, he would have been most welcome 
to all the sport the toil is supposed to impart. But the 
Makololo shot so badly, that, in order to save my powder, 
I was obliged to go myself. 

We shot a beautiful cow-eland, standing in the shade of 
a fine tree. It was evident that she had lately had hei 
calf killed by a lion, for there were five long deej) scratches 
on both sides of her hind-quarters, as if she had run to the 
rescue of her calf, and the lion, leaving it, had attacked 
herself, but was unable to pull her down. When lying on 
the ground, the milk flowing from the large udder showed 
that she must have been seeking the shade, from the dis- 
tress its non-removal in the natural manner caused. She 
was a beautiful creature, and Lebeole, a Makololo gentle- 
man who accompanied me, speaking in reference to its size 
and beauty, said, "Jesus ought to have given us these in- 
stead of cattle." It was a new, undescribed variety of this 
splendid antelope. It was marked with narrow white 
bands across the body, exactly like those of the koodoo, 
and had a black patch of more than a hand-breadth on the 
outer side of the forearm. 



116 ASCENT OF THE LEEAMBYE. 



CHAPTEK XII. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE ASCENDS THE LEEAMBYE, AND DETERMINES 
TO OPEN A COMMUNICATION WITH THE WEST COAST OP 
AFRICA. 

Having at last procured a sufficient number of canoes, 
we began to ascend the river. I had the choice of the 
whole fleet, and selected the best, though not the largest ; 
it was thirty-four feet long by twenty inches wide. I had 
six paddlers, and the larger canoe of Sekeletu had ten. 
They stand upright, and keep the stroke with great pre- 
cision, though they change from side to side as the course 
demands. The men at the head and stern are selected from 
the strongest and most expert of the whole. The canoes, 
being flat-bottomed, can go into very shallow water ; and 
whenever the men can feel the bottom they use the paddies, 
which are about eight feet long, as poles to punt with. 
Our fleet consisted of thirty-three canoes, and about one 
hundred and sixty men. It was beautiful to see them 
skimming along so quickly and keeping the time so well. 
On land the Makalala fear the Makololo; on water the 
Makololo fear them, and cannot prevent them from racing 
with each other, dashing along at the top of their speed 
and placing their masters' lives in danger. In the event 
of a capsize, many of the Makololo would sink like stones. 
A case of this kind happened on the first day of our voyage 
up. The wind, blowing generally from the east, raises very 
large waves on the Leeambye. An old doctor of the Mako- 
lolo had his canoe filled by one of these waves, and, being 
unable to swim, was lost. The Barotse who were in the 
canoe with him saved themselves by swimming, and were 
afraid of being punished with death in the evening for rot 
saving the doctor as well. Had he been a man of more 
influence, they certainly would have sufl'ered death. 



ISLANDS — THE EANYETI. 117 

We proceeded rapidly up the river, and I felt the plea- 
sure of looking on lands which had never been seen by a 
European before. The river is, indeed, a magnificent one. 
often more than a mile broad, and adorned with many 
islands of from three to five miles in length. Both islands 
and banks are covered with forests, and most of the trees 
on the brink of the water send down roots from their 
branches like the banian, or Ficus Indica. The islands at 
a little distance seem great rounded masses of sylvan vege- 
tation reclining on the bosom of the glorious stream. The 
beauty of the scenery of some of the islands is greatly in- 
creased by the date-palm, with its gracefully-curved fronds 
and refreshing light-green color, near the bottom of the 
picture, and the lofty palmyra towering far above, and 
casting its feathery foliage against a cloudless sky. It 
being winter, we had the strange coloring on the banks 
which many parts of African landscape assume. The 
country adjacent to the river is rocky and undulating, 
abounding in elephants and all other large game, except 
leches and nakongs, which seem generally to avoid stony 
ground. The soil is of a reddish color, and very fertile, as 
is attested by the great quantity of grain raised annually 
by the Banyeti. A great many villages of this poor and 
very industrious people are situated on both banks of the 
river: they are expert hunters of the hippopotami and 
other animals, and very proficient in the manufacture of 
articles of wood and iron. The whole of this part of the 
country being infested with the tsetse, they are unable to 
rear domestic animals. This may have led to their skill 
in handicraft works. Some make large wooden vessels 
with very neat lids, and wooden bowls of all sizes; and, 
since the idea of sitting on stools has entered the Makololo 
mind, they have shown great taste in the different forms 
given to the legs of these pieces of furniture. 

Other Banyeti, or Manyeti, as they are called, make neat 
and strong baskets of the split roots of a certain tree, 
while others excel in pottery and iron. I cannot find that 



118 RAPIDS AND FALLS. 

they have ever been warlike. Indeed, the wars m the 
centre of the country, where no slave-trade existed, have 
seldom been about any thing else but cattle. So well 
known is this, that several tribes refuse to keep cattle, 
because they tempt their enemies to come and steal 
Nevertheless, they have no objection to eat them when 
offered, and their country admits of being well stocked. I 
have heard of but one war having occurred from another 
cause. Three brothers, Barolongs, fought for the possession 
of a woman who was considered worth a battle, and the 
tribe has remained permanently divided ever since. 

From the bend up to the north, called Katima-molelo, (I 
quenched fire,) the bed of the river is rocky, and the 
stream runs fast, forming a succession of rapids and cata- 
racts, which prevent continuous navigation when the 
water is low. The rapids are not visible when the river 
is full, but the cataracts of Nambwc, Bombwe, and Kale 
must always be dangerous. The fall at each of these is 
between four and six feet. But the falls of Gonye present 
a much more serious obstacle. There we were obliged to 
take the canoes out of the water, and carry them more 
than a mile by land. The fall is about thirty feet. The 
main body of water, which comes over the ledge of rock 
when the river is low, is collected into a space seventy or 
eighty yards wide before it takes the leap, and, a mass of 
rock being thrust forward against the roaring torrent, a 
loud sound is produced. 

As we passed up the river, the different villages of Ban- 
yeti turned out to present Sekeletu with food and skins, as 
their tribute. One large village is placed at Gonye, the 
inhabitants of which are required to assist the Makololo 
to carry their canoes past the falls. The tsetse here 
lighted on us even in the middle of the stream. This 
we crossed repeatedly, in order to make short cuts at 
bends of the river. The course is, however, remarkably 
'Straight among the rocks; and here the river is shallow, 
on account of the great breadth of surface which it covers. 



NALIELE — SANTURU. 119 

When we came to about 16° 16' S. latitude, the high 
wooded banks seemed to leave the river, and no more 
tsetse appeared. 

This visit was the first Sekeletu had made to these parts 
since he attained the chieftainship. Those who had taken 
part with Mpepe were consequently in great terror. 
When we came to the town of Mpepe' s father, as he and 
another man had counselled Mamochisane to put Sekeletu 
to death and marry Mpepe, the two were led forth and 
tossed into the river. Nokuane was again one of the 
executioners. When I remonstrated against human blood 
being shed in the off-hand way in which they were pro- 
ceeding, the counsellors justified their acts by the evidence 
given by Mamochisane, and calmly added, '^You see we 
are still Boers : we are not yet taught." 

Naliele, the capital of the Barotse, is built on a mound 
which was constructed artificially by Santuru, and was his 
storehouse for grain. His own capital stood about five 
hundred yards to the south of that, in what is now the 
bed of the river. All that remains of the largest mound 
in the valley are a 'few cubic yards of earth, to erect which 
cost the whole of the people of Santuru the labor of many 
years. The same thing has happened to another ancient 
site of a town, Linangelo, also on the left bank. It would 
seem, therefore, that the river in this part of the valley 
must be wearing eastward. 

Santuru, at whose ancient granary we are staying, was 
a great hunter, and very fond of taming wild animals. 
His people, aware of his taste, brought to him every young 
antelope they could catch, and, among other things, two 
young hippopotami. These animals gambolled in the river 
by day, but never failed to remember to come up to Naliele 
for their suppers of milk and meal. They were the wonder 
of the country, till a stranger, happening to come to visit 
Santuru, saw them reclining in the sun, and speared one 
of them, on the supposition that it was wild. The same 
unlucky accident happened to one of the cats I had brought 



120 BAROTSE ERAS. 

to Sekeletu. A stranger, seeing an animal he had never 
viewed before, killed it, and brought the trophy to the 
chief, thinking that he had made a very remarkable dis- 
covery : we thereby lost the breed of cats, of which, from 
the swarms of mice, we stood in great need. 

On making inquiries to ascertain whether Santuru, the 
Moloiana, had ever been visited by wdiite men, I could find 
no vestige of any such visit; there is no evidence of any 
of Santuru' s people having ever seen a white man before 
the arrival of Mr. Oswell and myself in 1851. The people 
have, it is true, no w^ritten records; but any remarkable 
event here is commemorated in names, as was observed by 
Park to be the case in the countries he traversed. The 
year of our arrival is dignified by the name of the year 
■when the white men came, or of Sebituane's death ; but 
they prefer the former, as they avoid, if possible, any direct 
reference to the departed. After my wife's first visit, great 
numbers of children were named Ma-Eobert, or mother of 
Robert, her eldest child; others were named Gun, Horse, 
Wagon, Monare, Jesus, &c. ; but though our names, and 
those of the native Portuguese who came in 1853, were 
adopted, there is not a trace of any thing of the sort having 
happened previously among the Barotse: the visit of a 
white man is such a remarkable event, that, had any taken 
place during the last three hundred years, there must have 
remained some tradition of it. 

The town or mound of Santuru' s mother was shown to 
me : this was the first symptom of an altered state of feel- 
ing with regard to the female sex that I had observed. 
There are few or no cases of women being elevated to the 
headships of towns farther south. The Barotse also showed 
some relics of their chief, which evinced a greater amount 
of the religious feeling than I had ever known displayed 
among Bechuanas. His more recent capital, Lilonda, built, 
too, on an artificial mound, is covered with different kinds 
of trees, transplanted when young by himself. They form 
a grove on the end of the mound, in which are to be seen 



RELIGIOUS FEELING. 121 

various instruments of iron just in the state he left them. 
One looks like the guard of a basket-hilted sword; another 
has an upright stem of the metal, on which are placed 
branches worked at the ends into miniature axes, hoes, and 
spears; on these he was accustomed to present offerings, 
according as he desired favors to be conferred in undertak- 
ijig hewing, agriculture, or fighting. The 2)eople still living 
there, in charge of these articles, were supported by presents 
from the chief; and the Makololo sometimes follow the ex- 
ample. This was the nearest approach to a priesthood I 
met. When I asked them to part with one of these relics, 
they replied, '■'■ Oh, no : he refuses." " Who refuses ?" " San- 
turu," was their reply, showing their belief in a future state 
of existence. After explaining to them, as I always did 
when opportunity offered, the nature of true worship, and 
praying with them in the simple form which needs no 
offering from the worshipper except that of the heart, and 
planting some fruit-tree seeds in the grove, we departed. 

Another incident, which occurred at the confluence of 
the Leeba and Leeambye, may be mentioned here, as show- 
ing a more vivid perception of the existence of spiritual 
beings, and greater proneness to worship, than among the 
Bechuanas. Having taken lunar observations in the morn- 
ing, I was waiting for a meridian altitude of the sun for 
the latitude; my chief boatman was sitting by, in order to 
pack up the instruments as soon as I had finished ; there 
was a large halo, about 20° in diameter, round the sun ; 
tliinking that the humidity of the atmosphere, which this 
indicated, might betoken rain, I asked him if his experience 
did not lead him to the same view. '•'■ Oh, no," replied he; 
'* it is the Barimo, [gods or departed spirits,] who have 
called a picho ; don't you see they have the Lord [sun] in 
the centre ?" 

While still at Naliele, I walked out to Katongo, (lat. 15° 

16' 33",) on the ridge which bounds the valley of the Barotse 

in that direction, and found it covered with trees. It is 

only the commencement of the lands which are never 

11 



122 THE HERALD. 

inundated; their gentle rise from the dead level of the 
valley much resembles the edge of the Desert in the valley 
of the Nile. 

I imagined the slight elevation (Katongo) might be 
healthy, but was informed that no part of this region is 
exempt from fever. When the waters begin to retire from 
this valley, such masses of decayed vegetation and mud 
are exposed to the torrid sun that even the natives suffer 
severely from attacks of fever. The grass is so rank in 
its growth that one cannot see the black alluvial soil of 
the bottom of this periodical lake. Even when the grass 
falls down in winter, or is " laid" by its own weight, one is 
obliged to lift the feet so high, to avoid being tripped up 
by it, as to make walking excessively fatiguing. Young 
leches are hidden beneath it by their dams; and the Mako- 
lolo youth complain of being unable to run in the Barotse 
land on this account. There was evidently no healthy 
spot in this quarter; and, the current of the river being 
about four and a half miles per hour, (one hundred yards 
in sixty seconds,) I imagined we might find what we needed 
in the higher lands, from which the river seemed to come. 
I resolved, therefore, to go to the utmost limits of the Ba- 
rotse country before coming to a final conclusion. Katongo 
was the best place we had seen ; but, in order to accomplish 
a complete examination, I left Sekeletu at Naliele, and 
ascended the river. He furnished me with men, besides 
my rowers, and among the rest a herald, that I might 
enter his villages in what is considered a dignified manner. 
This, it was supposed, would be effected by the herald 
shouting out, at the top of his voice, "Here comes the lord, 
the great lion;" the latter phrase being "tau e tona," 
which, in his imperfect way of pronunciation, became 
"5au e tona," and so like 'Hhe great sow" that I could not 
receive the honor with becoming gravity, and had to 
entreat him, much to the annoyance of my party, to be 
fiilent. 

In our ascent we visited a number of JVIakololo villages, 



THE LEEAMBYE AND LOETI 123 

and were always received with a hearty welcome, as mes- 
sengers to them of peace, which the}- term ^' sleep." They 
behave well in public meetings, even on the first occasion 
of attendance^ probably from the habit of commanding the 
Makalaka, crowds of whom swarm in every village, and 
whom the Makololo women seem to consider as especially 
under their charge. 

The river presents the same appearance of low banks 
without trees as we have remarked it had after we came 
to 16° 16', until we arrive at Libonta, (14° 59' S. lat.) 
Twenty miles beyond that, we find forests down to the 
water's edge, and tsetse. Here I might have turned back, 
as no locality can be inhabited by Europeans where that 
scourge exists; but, hearing that we were not far from 
the confluence of the river of Londa or Lunda, named Leeba 
or Loiba, and the chiefs of that country being reported to 
be friendly to strangers, and therefore likely to be of use 
to me on my return from the west coast, I still pushed on 
to latitude 14° 11' 2" S. There the Leeambye assumes the 
name Kabompo, and seems to be coming from the east. It 
is a fine large river, about three hundred yards wide, and 
the Leeba two hundred and fifty. The Loeti, a branch of 
which is called Langcbongo, comes from "VV.N.W., through 
a level grassy plain named Mango ; it is about one hundred 
yards wide, and enters the Leeambj^e from the west ; the 
waters of the Loeti are of a light color, and those of the 
Leeba of a dark mossy hue. After the Loeti joins the 
Leeambye, the different-colored waters flow side by side for 
some distance unmixed. 

Before reaching the Loeti, we came to a number of people 
from the Lobale region, hunting hippopotami. They fled 
proci2:)itately as soon as they saw the Makololo, leaving 
their canoes and all their utensils and clothing. My own 
Makalaka, who were accustomed to plunder wherever they 
went, rushed after them like furies, totally regardless of 
my shouting. As this proceeding would have destroyed 
my character entirely at Lobale, I took my stand on a 



124 NO HEALTHY LOCATION. 

commanding position as they returned, and forced them to 
lay down all the plunder on a sand-bank, and leave it there 
for its lawful owners. 

It was now quite evident that no healthy location could 
be obtained in which the Makololo would be allowed to live 
in peace. 1 nad thus a fair excuse, if I had chosen to avail 
myself of it, of coming home and saying that the " door 
was shut," because the Lord's time had not yet come. But 
believing that it was my duty to devote some portion of 
my life to these (to me at least) very confiding and aifec- 
tionate Makololo, I resolved to follow out the second part 
of my plan, though I had failed in accomplishing the first. 
The Leeba seemed to come from the N. and by W., or 
JST.N.W. ; so, having an old Portuguese map, which pointed 
out the Coanza as rising from the middle of the continent 
in 9° S. lat., I thought it probable that, when we had as- 
cended the Leeba (from 14° 11') two or three degrees, we 
should then be within one hundred and twenty miles of 
the Coanza, and find no difficulty in following it down to 
the coast near Loanda. This was the logical deduction ; 
but, as is the case with many a plausible theory, one of 
the premises was decidedly defective. The Coanza, as we 
afterward found, does not come from anywhere near the 
centre of the country. 

The numbers of large game above Libonta are prodigious, 
and they proved remarkably tame. Eighty-one buffaloes 
defiled in slow procession before our fire one evening, within 
gunshot; and herds of splendid elands stood by day, with- 
out fear, at two hundred yards' distance. They were all of 
the striped variety, and, with their forearm markings, large 
dewlaps, and sleek skins, were a beautiful sight to see. 
The lions here roar much more than in the country nea* 
the lake, Zouga, and Chobe. One evening we had a good 
opportunity of hearing the utmost exertions the animal 
can make in that line. We had made our beds on a large 
sand-bank, and could be easily seen from all sides. A lion 
on the opposite shore amused himself for hours by roaring 



LIONS — ARABS. 125 

as loudly as he could, putting, as is usual in such cases, hia 
mouth near the ground, to make the sound reverberate 
The river was too broad for a ball to reach him, so we let 
him enjoy himself, certain that he durst not have been 
guilty of the impertinence in the Bushman country. 
Wherever the game abounds, these animals exist in pro- 
portionate numbers. Here they were very frequently seen, 
and two of the largest I ever saw seemed about as tall as 
common donkeys; but the mane made their bodies appear 
rather larger. 

A party of Arabs from Zanzibar were in the country at 
this time. Sekeletu had gone from Naliele to the town of 
his mother before we arrived from the north, but left an ox 
for our use, and instructions for us to follow him thither. 
We came down a branch of the Leeambye called Marile, 
which departs from the main river in latitude 15° 15'43"S., 
and is a fine deep stream about sixty yards wide. It makes 
the whole of the country around Naliele an island. When 
sleeping at a village in the same latitude as Naliele town, 
two of the Arabs mentioned made their appearance. They 
were quite as dark as the Makololo, but, having their heads 
shaved, I could not compare their hair with that of the 
inhabitants of the country. When we were about to leave, 
they came to bid adieu; but I asked them to stay and 
help us to eat our ox. As they had scruples about eating 
an animal not blooded in their own way, I gained their 
good-will by sajang I was quite of their opinion as to 
getting quit of the blood, and gave them two legs of an 
animal slaughtered by themselves. They professed the 
greatest detestation of the Portuguese, "because they eat 
pigs ;" and disliked the English, " because the}^ thrash them 
for selling slaves." I was silent about pork ; though, had 
they seen me at a hippopotamus two da5^s afterward, they 
would have set me down as being as much a heretic as any 
of that nation ; but I ventured to tell them that I agreed 
with the English, that it was better to let the children 

grow up and comfort their mothers when they became old, 

11* 



126 TOWN OF MA-SEKELETU. 

than to carry them away and sell them across the sea. 
This they never attempt to justify; 'Hhey want them only 
to cultivate the land, and take care of them as their chil- 
dren/' It is the same old story, justifying a monstrous 
wrong on pretence of taking care of those degraded por- 
tions of humanity which cannot take care of themselves; 
doing evil that good may come. 

These Arabs, or Moors, could read and write their own 
language readily; and, when speaking about our Savior, I 
admired the boldness with which they informed me " that 
Christ was a very good prophet, but Mohammed was far 
greater.'' And with respect to their loathing of pork, it 
may have some foundation in their nature; for I have 
known Bechuanas who had no prejudice against the wild 
animal, and ate the tame without scruple, yet, unconscious 
of any cause of disgust, vomit it again. The Bechuanas 
south of the lake have a prejudice against eating fish, and 
allege a disgust to eating any thing like a serpent. This 
may arise fi'om the remnants of serpent-worship floating in 
their minds, as, in addition to this horror of eating such 
animals, they sometimes render a sort of obeisance to 
living serpents by clapping their hands to them, and re- 
fuisng to destroy the reptiles; but in the case of the hog 
they are conscious of no superstitious feeling. 

Having parted with our Arab friends, we proceeded down 
the Marile till we re-entered the Leeambye, and went to 
the town of Ma-Sekeletu (mother of Sekeletu,) opposite the 
island of Loyela. Sekeletu had always supplied me most 
liberally with food, and, as soon as I arrived, presented me 
with a pot of boiled meat, while his mother handed me a 
large jar of butter, of which they make great quantities 
for the purpose of anointing their bodies. He had himself 
sometimes felt the benefit of my way of putting aside a 
quantity of the meat after a meal, and had now followed 
my example by ordering some to be kept forme. Accord- 
ing to their habits, every particle of an ox is devoured at 
one meal; and as the chief cannot, without a deviation 



HEATHENISM. 127 

from their customs, eat alone, he is often compelled to suffer 
severely from hunger before another meal is ready. We 
henceforth always worked into each other's hands by sav- 
ing a little for each other; and when some of the sticklers 
for use and custom grumbled, I advised them to eat like 
men, and not like vultures. 

As this was the first visit which Sekeletu had paid to this 
part of his dominions, it was to many a season of great joy. 
The head-men of each village presented oxen, milk, and 
beer, more than the horde which accompanied him could 
devour, though their abilities in that line are something 
wonderful. The people usually show their joy and work 
off their excitement in dances and songs. 

As Sekeletu had been waiting for me at his mother's, we 
left the town as soon as I arrived, and proceeded down the 
river. Our speed with the stream was very great, for in 
one day we went from Litofe to Gonye, a distance of forty- 
four miles of latitude; and if we add to this the windings 
of the river, in longitude the distance will not be much less 
than sixty geographical miles. At this rate we soon 
reached Sesheke, and then the town of Linyanti. 

1 had been, during a nine weeks' tour, in closer contact 
with heathenism than I had ever been before; and though 
all, including the chief, were as kind and attentive to me 
as possible, and there was no want of food, (oxen being 
slaughtered daily, sometimes ten at a time, more than suf- 
ficient for the wants of all,) yet to endure the dancing, 
roaring, and singing, the jesting, anecdotes, grumbling, 
quarrelling, and murdering of these children of nature, 
seemed more like a severe penance than any thing I had 
before met with in the course of my missionary duties. I 
took thence a more intense disgust at heathenism than I 
had before, and formed a greatly-elevated opinion of the 
latent effects of missions in the south, among tribes which 
are reported to have been as savage as the Makololo. The 
indirect benefits which, to a casual observer, lie beneath the 
surface and are inappreciable, in reference to the probable 



128 ARRANGEMENTS FOR JOURNEYS. 

wide diffusion of Christianity at some future time, are 
•worth all the money and labor that have been expended 
to produce them. 



CHAPTEE Xlll. 



DR. LIVINGSTONE SETS OUT ON THE EXPEDITION TO THE 

WEST COAST. 

LiNTANTi, September, 1853. — The object proposed to the 
Makololo seemed so desirable that it was resolved to proceed 
with it as soon as the cooling influence of the rains should 
be felt in November. The longitude and latitude of Lin- 
yanti (lat. 18° 17' 20" S., long. 23° 50' 9" E.) showed that 
St. Philip de Benguela was much nearer to us than 
Loauda; and I might have easily made arrangements 
with the Mambari to allow me to accompany them as far 
as Bihe, which is on the road to that port; but it is so 
undesirable to travel in a path once trodden by slave- 
traders that I preferred to find out another line of march. 

Accordingly, men were sent at my suggestion to examine 
all the country to the west, to see if any belt of country 
free from tsetse could be found to afford us an outlet. The 
search was fruitless. The town and district of Linyanti 
are surrounded by forests infested by this poisonous insect, 
except at a few points, as that by which we entered at 
Sanshureh and another at Sesheke. But the lands both 
east and west of the Barotse valley are free from this 
insect-plague. There, however, the slave-trade had defiled 
the path, and no one ought to follow in its wake unless 
well armed. The Mambari had informed me that many 
English lived at Loanda; so I prepared to go thither. The 
prospect of meeting with countrymen seemed to over- 
balance the toils of the longer march. 



A "PTCHO :" ITS RESULTS. 129 

A "picho" was called to deliberate on the steps proposed. 
In these assemblies great freedom of speech is allowed; 
and on this occasion one of the old diviners said, ^' Where 
is he taking you to ? This white man is throwing you 
away. Your garments already smell of blood.'' It ia 
curious to observe how much identity of character appears 
all over the world. This man was a noted croaker. He 
always dreamed something dreadful in every expedition, 
and was certain that an eclipse or comet betokened the 
propriety of flight. But Sebituane formerly set his visions 
down to cowardice, and Sekeletu only laughed at him now. 
The general voice was in my favor; so a band of twenty- 
seven were appointed to accompany me to the west. 
These men were not hired, but sent to enable me to 
accomplish an object as much desired by the chief and 
most of his people as by me. They were eager to obtain 
free and profitable trade with white men. The prices 
which the Cape merchants could give, after defraying the 
great expenses of a long journey hither, being very small, 
made it scarce worth while for the natives to collect pro- 
duce for that market ; and the Mambari, giving only a few 
bits of print and baize for elephants' tusks worth more 
pounds than they gave yards of cloth, had produced the 
belief that trade with them was throwing ivory away. 
The desire of the Makololo for direct trade with the sea- 
coast coincided exactly with my own conviction that no 
permanent elevation of a people can be effected without 
commerce. Neither could there be a permanent mission 
here, unless the missionaries should descend to the level of 
the Makololo, for even at Kolobeng we found that traders 
demanded three or four times the price of the articles we 
needed, and expected us to be grateful to them besides for 
letting us have them at all. 

The three men whom I had brought from Kuruman had 
frequent relapses of the fever; so, finding that instead of 
serving me I had to wait on them, I decided that they 
fchould return to the south with Fleming as soon as he had 



130 THE LOST JOURNAL. 

finished his trading. I was then entirely dependent od 
my twenty-seven men^ whom I might name Zambesians, 
for there were two JVIakololo only, while the rest con- 
Bistod of Barotse, Batoka, Bashubia, and two of the Am- 
bonda. 

The fever had caused considerable weakness in my own 
frame, and a strange giddiness when I looked up suddenly 
to any celestial object, for every thing seemed to rush 
to the left, and if I did not catch hold of some object 
I fell heavily on the ground : something resembling a 
gush of bile along the duct from the liver caused the 
same fit to occur at night, whenever I turned suddenly 
round. 

The Makololo now put the question, "In the event of 
your death, will not the white people blame us for having 
allowed you to go away into an unhealthy, unknown 
country of enemies ?" I replied that none of my friends 
would blame them, because I would leave a book with 
Sekeletu, to be sent to Mr. Moffat in case I did not return, 
which would explain to him all that had happened until 
the time of my departure. The book was a volume of my 
Journal; and, as I was detained longer than I expected at 
Loanda, this book, with a letter, was delivered by Sekeletu 
to a trader, and I have been unable to trace it. I regret 
this now, as it contained valuable notes on the habits of 
wild animals, and the request was made in the letter to 
convey the volume to my family. The prospect of passing 
away from this fair and beautiful world thus came before 
me in a pretty plain, matter-of-fact form, and it did seem 
a serious thing to leave wife and children, — to break up all 
connection with earth and enter on an untried state of 
existence; and I find myself in my journal pondering over 
that fearful migration which lands us in eternity, wonder- 
ing whether an angel will soothe the fl.uttering soul, sadly 
flurried as it must be on entering the spirit- world, and 
hoping that Jesus might speak but one word of peace, for 
that would establish in the bosom an everlasting calm 



OUTFIT FOR JOURNEY. 131 

But; as I had always believed that, if we serve God at all, 
it ought to be done in a manly way, I wrote to my 
brother, commending our little girl to his care, as I was 
<Ietermined to ^^ succeed or perish'' in the attempt to open 
up this part of Africa. The Boers, by taking possession 
of all my goods, had saved me the trouble of making a 
will; and, considering the light heart now left in mj 
bosom, and some faint efforts to perform the duty of Chris- 
tian forgiveness, I felt that it was better to be the plun- 
dered party than one of the plunderers. 

When I committed the wagon and remaining goods to 
the care of the Makololo, they took all the articles except 
one box into their huts; and two warriors — Ponuane and 
Mahale — brought forward each a fine heifer-calf. After 
performing a number of warlike evolutions, they asked 
the chief to witness the agreement made between them, 
that whoever of the two should kill a Matebelo warrior 
first, in defence of the wagon, should possess both the 
calves. 

I had three muskets for my people, a rifle and a double- 
barrelled smooth-bore for myself; and, having seen such 
great abundance of game in my visit to the Leeba, I 
imagined that I could easily supply the wants of my 
party- Wishing also to avoid the discouragement which 
would naturally be felt on meeting any obstacles if my 
companions were obliged to carry heavy loads, I took only 
a few biscuits, a few pounds of tea and sugar, and about 
twenty of coffee, which, as the Arabs find, though used 
without either milk or sugar, is a most refreshing beverage 
after fatigue or exjDOSure to the sun. We carried one small 
tin canister, about fifteen inches square, filled with spare 
shirting, trousers, and shoes, to be used when we reached 
civilized life, and others in a bag, which were expected to 
wear out on the way ; another of the same size for medi- 
cines ; and a third for books, my stock being a Nautical 
Ahnanac, Thomson's Logarithm Tables, and a Bible; a 
fourth box 'Contained a magic lantern, which we found of 



132 OUTFIT — INSTRUMENTS. 

much use. The sextant and artificial horizon, thermo- 
meter, and compasses were carried apart. My ammuni- 
tion was distributed in portions through the whole lug- 
gage; so that, if an accident should befall one part, wo 
could still have others to fall back upon. Our chief hopes 
for food were upon that; but, in case of failure, I took 
about twenty pounds of beads, worth forty shillings, which 
still remained in the stock I brought from Cape Town, a 
small gypsy tent, just sufiicient to sleep in, a sheep-skin 
mantle as a blanket, and a horse-rug as a bed. As I had 
always found that the art of successful travel consisted in 
taking as few '' impediments'' as possible, and not for- 
getting to carry my wits about me, the outfit was rather 
spare, and intended to be still more so when we should 
come to leave the canoes. Some would consider it inju- 
dicious to adopt this plan; but I had a secret conviction 
^hat, if I did not succeed, it would not be for want of the 
•' knick-knacks" advertised as indispensable for travellers, 
but from want of "pluck," or because a large array of 
baggage excited the cupidity of the tribes through whose 
country we wished to pass. 

The instruments I carried, though few, were the best of 
. their kind. A sextant, by the famed makers Troughton 
and Sims, of Fleet Street; a chronometer watch, with a 
stop to the seconds-haiad, — an admirable contrivance for 
enabling a person to take the exact time of observations, 
it was constructed by Dent, of the Strand, (61,) for the 
Royal Geographical Society, and selected for the service 
by the President, Admiral Smythe, to whose judgment and 
kindness I am in this and other matters deeply indebted. 
It was pronounced by Mr. Maclear to equal most chrono- 
meters in performance. For these excellent instruments 1 
have much pleasure in recording my obligations to my 
good friend Colonel Steel, and at the same time to Mr. 
Maclear for much of my ability to use them. Besides 
these, I had a thermometer byDollond; a compass from 
the Cape Observatory, and a small pocket one in addition ; 



BANKS OF THE CHOBE. 133 

a good small telescope with a stand capable of being 
screwed into a tree. 

11th of November, 1853. — Left the town of Linyanti, 
accompanied by Sekeletu and his principal men, to embark 
on the Chobe. The chief came to the river in order to see 
that all was right at parting. We crossed five branches 
of the Chobe before reaching the main stream : this 
ramification must be the reason why it appeared so 
small to Mr. Oswell and myself in 1851. When all the 
departing branches re-enter, it is a large, deep river. The 
spot of embarkation was the identical island where we met 
Sebituane, first known as the island of Maimku, one of his 
wives. The chief lent me his own canoe; and, as it was 
broader than usual, I could turn about in it with ease. 

The Chobe is much infested by hippopotami, and, as 
certain elderly males are expelled the herd, they become 
soured in their temper, and so misanthropic as to attack 
every canoe that passes near them. 

The course of the river we found to be extremely tor- 
tuous ; so much so, indeed, as to carry us to all points of the 
compass every dozen miles. Some of us walked from a bend 
at the village of Moremi to another nearly due east of that 
point in six hours, while the canoes, going at more than 
double our speed, took twelve to accomplish the voyage 
between the same two places. And though the river is 
from thirteen to fifteen feet in depth at its lowest ebb, and 
broad enough to allow a steamer to ply upon it, the sud- 
denness of the bendings would prevent navigation; but, 
should the country ever become civilized, the Chobe would 
be a convenient natural canal. We spent forty-two and a 
half hours, paddling at the rate of five miles an hour, in 
coming from Linyanti to the confluence ; there we found a 
dike of amygdaloid lying across the Leeambye. 

The actual point of confluence of the Chobe and the 
Ijeeambye is ill defined, on account of each dividing into 
several branches as they inosculate ; but when the whole 
body of water collects into one bed it is a goodly sight 

12 



Id4 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 

for one who has spent many years in the thirsty south. 
Standing on one bank, even the keen eye of the natives 
cannot detect whether two large islands, a fe^v miles east 
of the junction, are mainland or not. 

After spending one night at the Makololo village on 
Mparia, we left the Chobe, and, turning round, began to 
ascend the Leeambye; on the 19th of November we again 
reached the town of Sesheke. It stands on the north bank 
of the river, and contains a large population of Makalaka, 
under Moriantsane, brother-in-law of Sebituane. There 
are parties of various tribes here, assembled under their 
respective head-men, but a few Makololo rule over all. 
Their sway, though essentially despotic, is considerably 
modified by certain customs and laws. 

The following circumstance, which happened here when 
I was present with Sekeletu, shows that the simple raodo 
of punishment by forcing a criminal to work out a fine did 
not strike the Makololo mind until now. 

A stranger, having visited Sesheke for the purpose of 
barter, was robbed by one of the Makalaka of most of his 
goods. The thief, when caught, confessed the theft, and 
that he had given the articles to a person who had removed 
to a distance. The Makololo were much enraged at the 
idea of their good name being compromised by this treat- 
ment of a stranger. Their customary mode of punishing 
a crime which causes much indignation is to throw the 
criminal into the river; but, as this would not restore the 
lost property, they were sorely puzzled how to act. The 
case was referred to me, and I solved the difficulty by pay- 
ing for the loss myself and sentencing the thief to work 
out an equivalent with his hoe in a garden. This system 
was immediately introduced, and thieves are now sen- 
tenced to raise an amount of corn proportioned to their 
offences. Among the Bakwains, a woman who had stolen 
from the garden of another was obliged to part with her 
own entirely : it became the property of her whose field 
was injured by the crime. 



PUBLIC ADDRESSES. 135 

There is no stated day of rest in any part of this country, 
except the day after the appearance of the new moon; and 
the people then refrain only from going to their gardens. 
A curious custom, not to be found among the Bechuanas, 
prevails among the black tribes beyond them. They watch 
most eagerly for the first glimpse of the new moon, and, 
when they perceive the faint outline after the sun has set 
deep in the west, they utter a loud shout of " Kua !" and 
vociferate prayers to it. My men, for instance, called out, 
*^Let our journey with the white man be prosperous ! Let 
our enemies perish, and the children of Nake become rich ! 
May he have plenty of meat on this journey V &c. &c. 

I gave many public addresses to the people of Sesheko 
under the outspreading camel-thorn-tree, which serves as a 
shade to the kotla on the high bank of the river. It was 
pleasant to see the long lines of men, women, and children 
winding along from different quarters of the town, each 
party following behind their respective head-men. They 
often amounted to between five and six hundred souls, and 
required an exertion of voice which brought back the com- 
plaint for which I had got the uvula excised at the Cape. 
They were always very attentive; and Moriantsane, in 
order, as he thought, to please me, on one occasion rose up 
in the middle of the discourse, and hurled his staif at the 
heads of some young fellows whom he saw working with 
a skin instead of listening. My hearers sometimes put very 
sensible questions on the subjects brought before them ; at 
other times they introduced the most frivolous nonsense 
immediately after hearing the most solemn truths. Some 
begin to pray to Jesus in secret as soon as they hear of the 
white man's God, with but little idea of what they are 
about, and no doubt are heard by Him who, hke a father, 
pitieth his children. Others, waking by night, recollect 
what has been said about the future world so clearly that 
they tell next day what a fright they got by it, and resolve 
not to listen to the teaching again ; and not a few keep to 
the determination not to believe, as certain villagers in the 



1S6 PROGRESS UP THE LEEAMBYE. 

south, who put all their cocks to death because they 
crowed the words, " Tlang lo rapeleng/' — " Come along to 
prayers." 

On recovering partially from a severe attack of fever 
which remained upon me ever since our passing the village 
of Moremi on the Chobe, we made ready for our departure 
up the river by sending messages before us to the villages 
to prepare food. We took four elephants' tusks, belonging 
to Sekeletu, with us, as a means of testing the difference of 
prices between the Portuguese, whom we expected to reach, 
and the white traders from the south. Moriantsane sup- 
plied us well with honey, milk, and meal. The rains were 
just commencing in this district; but, though showers 
sufficient to lay the dust had fallen, they had no influence 
whatever on the amount of water in the river, yet never 
was there less in any part than three hundred yards of a 
deep flowing stream. 

Our progress up the river was rather slow : this was 
caused by waiting opposite different villages for supplies 
of food. We might have done with much less than we got; 
but my Makololo man, Pitsane, knew of the generous orders 
of Sekeletu, and was not at all disposed to allow them to 
remain a dead letter. The villages of the Banyeti con- 
tributed large quantities of mosibe, a bright-red bean 
yielded by a large tree. The pulp enclosing the seed is not 
much thicker than a red wafer, and is the portion used. It 
requires the addition of honey to render it at all palatable. 

To these were added great numbers of the fruit which 
yields a variety of the nux vomica, from which we derive 
that virulent poison strychnia. The pulp between the nuts 
is the part eaten, and it is of a pleasant juicy nature, having 
a sweet acidulous taste. The fruit itself resembles a large 
yellow orange, but the rind is hard, and, with the pips and 
bark, contains much of the deadly poison. They evince 
their noxious qualities by an intensely bitter taste. The 
nuts, swallowed inadvertently, cause considerable pain, 
but not death; and^ to avoid this inconvenience, the people 



HIPPOPOTAMI. 137 

dry the pulp before the fire, in order to be able the more 
fiasily to get rid of the noxious seed. 

The rapids in the part of the river between Kati ma- 
in olelo and ISTameta are relieved by several reaches of still, 
deep water, fifteen or twenty miles long. In these very 
large herds of hijDpopotami are seen; and the deep furrows 
they make, in ascending the banks to graze during the 
nights, are everywhere apparent. They are guided back 
to the water by the scent; but a long-continued pouring rain 
makes it impossible to perceive by that means in which 
direction the river lies, and they are found bewildered on 
the land. The hunters take advantage of their helplessness 
on these occasions to kill them. 

It is impossible to judge of the numbers in a herd, for 
they are almost always hidden beneath the waters ; but, as 
they require to come up every few minutes to breathe, 
when there is a constant succession of heads thrown up, 
then the herd is supposed to be large. They love a still 
reach of the stream, as in the more rapid parts of the 
channel they are floated down so quickly that much exer- 
tion is necessary to regain the distance lost, by frequently 
swimming up again : such constant exertion disturbs them 
in their nap. They prefer to remain by day in a drowsy, 
yawning state, and, though their eyes are open, they take 
little notice of things at a distance. The males utter a 
loud succession of snorting grunts, which may be heard 
a mile off. The canoe in which I was, in passing over a 
wounded one, elicited a distinct grunting, though the 
animal lay entirely under the water. 

The young, when very little, take their stand on the 
neck of the dam, and the small head, rising above the 
large, comes soonest to the surface. The dam, knowing 
the more urgent need of her calf, comes more frequently to 
the surface when it is in her care. But in the rivers of 
Jjonda, where they are much in danger of being shot, even 
the hippopotamus gains wit by experience ; for, while those 
m the Zambesi put up their heads openly to blow, those 

12* 



138 MODE OF SPENDING THE DAY. 

referred to keep their noses among water-plants, and 
breathe so quietly that one would not dream of their exist- 
ence in the river except by footprints on the banks. 



CHAPTEE XIT. 

VOYAGE ON THE LEEAMBYE, CONTINUED. 

80^^ of November, 1853. — At Gonye Falls. No rain has 
fallen here; so it is excessively hot. The trees have put on 
their gayest dress, and many flowers adorn the landscape 
yet the heat makes all the leaves droop at mid-day and 
look languid for want of rain. If the country increases 
as much in beauty in front as it has done within the last 
four degrees of latitude, it will be indeed a lovely land. 

We all felt great lassitude in travelling. The atmo- 
sphere is oppressive both in cloud and sunshine. The evapo- 
ration from the river must be excessively great; and I feel 
as if the fluids of the system joined in the general motion 
of watery vapor upward, as enormous quantities of water 
must be drunk to supply its place. 

When under way our usual procedure is this : — We get 
up a little before five in the morning; it is then beginning 
to dawn. While I am dressing, coffee is made ; and, having 
filled my pannikin, the remainder is handed to my com- 
panions, who eagerly partake of the refreshing beverage 
The servants are busy loading the canoes, while the prin- 
cipal men are sipping the coffee, and, that being soon over, 
we embark. The next two hours are the most pleasant 
part of the day's sail. The men paddle away most vigor- 
ously : the Barotse, being a tribe of boatmen, have large, 
deeply-developed chests and shoulders, with indifferent 
lower extremities. They often engage in loud scolding of 
each other, in order to relieve the tedium of their work. 
About eleven we land, and eat any meat which may have 



FALLS OF GONYE. 139 

remnined from the previous evening meal, or a biscuit with 
honey, and drink water. 

After an hour's rest, we again embark and cower under 
an umbrella. The heat is oppressive, and, being weak 
from the last attack of fever, I cannot land and keep the 
camp supplied with flesh. The men, being quite uncovered 
in the sun, perspire profusely, and in the afternoon begin 
to stop, as if waiting for the canoes which have been left 
behind. Sometimes we reach a sleeping-place two hours 
before sunset, and, all being troubled with languor, we 
gladly remain for the night. Coffee again, and a biscuit, or 
a piece of coarse bread made of maize-meal, or that of the 
native corn, make up the bill of fare for the evening, un- 
less we have been fortunate enough to kill something. — 
when we boil a potful of flesh. This is done by cutting it 
up into long strips and pouring in water till it is covered. 
When that is boiled dry, the meat is considered ready. 

The people at Gonye carry the canoes over the space 
requisite to avoid the falls by slinging them on poles tied 
on diagonally. They place these on their shoulders, and, 
Betting about the work with good humor, soon accomplish the 
task. They are a merry set of mortals; a feeble joke sets 
them off in a fit of laughter. Here, as elsewhere, all peti- 
tioned for the magic lantern; and, as it is a good means of 
conveying instruction, I willingly complied. 

The falls of Gonye have not been made by wearing back 
like those of Niagara, but are of a fissure form. For many 
miles below, the river is confined in a narrow space of not 
more than one hundred yards wide. The water goes boiling 
along, and gives the idea of great masses of it rolling over 
and over, so that even the most expert swimmer would find 
it difficult to keep on the surface. Here it is that the river, 
when in flood, rises fifty or sixty feet in perpendicular 
height. The islands above the falls are covered with foliage 
as beautiful as can be seen anywhere. Viewed from the 
mass of rock which overhangs the fall, the scenery was the 
loveliest I had seen. 

Nothing worthy of note occurred on our way to Nameta. 



140 MAKOLOLO FORAY. 

There we heard that a party of the Makololo, headed by 
Lerimo, had made a foray to the north and up the Leeba, 
in the very direction in which we were about to proceed. 
Mpololo, the uncle of Sekeletu, is considered the head-man 
of the Barotse valley ; and the perpetrators had his full 
eanction, because Masiko, a son of Santuru, the former 
chief of the Barotse, had fled high up the Leeambye, and, 
establishing himself there, had sent men down to the vici- 
nity of Naliele to draw away the remaining Barotse from 
their allegiance. Lerimo's party had taken some of thig 
Mesiko's subjects prisoners, and destroyed several villagca 
of the Balonda, to whom we were going. This was in 
direct opposition to the policy of Sekeletu, who wished to 
be at peace with these northern tribes ; and Pitsane, my 
head-man, was the bearer of orders to Mpololo to furnish 
us with presents to the very chiefs they had attacked. 
Thus, we were to get large pots of clarified butter and 
bunches of beads, in confirmation of the message of peace 
we were to deliver. 

When we reached Litofe, we heard that a fresh foray 
was in contemplation ; but I sent forward orders to disband 
the party immediately. At Ma-Sekeletu's town we found 
the head-offendei, Mpololo himself, and I gave him a bit 
of my mind, to the effect that, as I was going with the full 
sanction of Sekeletu, if smy harm happened to me in con- 
Bequence of his ill-advised expedition the guilt would rest 
with him. Ma-Sekeletu, who was present, heartily approved 
all I said, and suggested that all the captives taken by 
Lerimo should be returned by my hand, to show Masiko 
that the guilt of the foray lay noi with the superior per- 
sons of the Makololo, but with a mere servant. Her good 
sense appeared in other respects besides; and, as this was 
exactly what my own party had previously resolved to 
suggest, we were pleased to hear Mpololo agree to do what 
he was advised. He asked me to lay the matter before 
the under-chiefs of Naliele, and when we readied that 
place, on the 9th of December, I did so in a picho, called 



LIBERALITY 01 THE PEOPLE. 141 

expressly for the purpose. Lerimo was present, and felt 
rather crestfallen when his exploit was described by Moho- 
risi, one of my companions, as one of extreme cowardice, 
he having made an attack upon the defenceless villagers of 
Londa, while, as we had found on our former visit, a lion 
had actually killed eight people of Naliele without his 
daring to encounter it. The Makololo are cowardly in 
respect to animals, but brave against men. Mpololo took 
all the guilt upon himself before the people, and delivered 
up a captive child whom his wife had in her possession ; 
others followed his example, till we procured the release of 
five of the prisoners. Some thought, as Masiko had tried 
to take their children by stratagem, they ought to take his 
by force, as the two modes suited the genius of each people : 
the Makalaka delight in cunning, and the Makololo in 
fighting; and others thought, if Sekeletu meant them to 
be at peace with Masiko, he ought to have told them so. 

It is rather dangerous to tread in the footsteps of a 
marauding-party with men of the same tribe as the 
aggressors, but my people were in good spirits, and several 
volunteers even offered to join our ranks. We, however, 
adhered strictly to the orders of Sekeletu as to our com- 
panions, and refused all others. 

The people of every village treated us most liberally, 
presenting, besides oxen, butter, milk, and meal, more than 
we could stow away in our canoes. The cows in this valley 
are now yielding, as they frequently do, more milk than 
the people can use, and both men and women present 
butter in such quantity that I shall be able to refresh my 
men as we move along. Anointing the skin prevents the 
excessive evaporation of the fluids of the body, and acts as 
clothing in both sun and shade. They always made their 
presents gracefully. When an ox was given, the owner 
would say, <' Here is a little bit of bread for you." This was 
pleasing, for I had been accustomed to the Bechuanas pre- 
senting a miserable goat, with the pompous exclamation, 
*' Behold an ox!" The women persisted in giving mo 



142 DEPARTURE FROM NALIELE. 

copious supplies of shrill praises, or ^^lullilooingj" but. 
though I frequently told them to modify their "great lords'* 
and '* great lions" to more humble expressions, they so evi- 
dently intended to do me honor that I could not help being 
pleased with the poor creatures' wishes for our success. 

The rains began while we were at Naliele; this is much 
later than usual ; but, though the Barotse valley has been 
in need of rain, the people never lack abundance of food. 
The showers are refreshing, but the air feels hot and close; 
i,he thermometer, however, in a cool hut, stands only at 
84°. The access of the external air to any spot at once 
raises its temperature above 90°. A new attack of fever 
here caused excessive languor ; but, as I am already getting 
tired of quoting my fevers, and never liked to read travels 
myself where much was said about the illnesses of the 
traveller, I shall henceforth endeavor to say little about 
them. 

We here sent back the canoe of Sekeletu, and got the 
loan of others from Mpololo. Eight riding-oxen, and seven 
for slaughter, were, according to the orders of that chief, 
also furnished; some were intended for our own use, and 
others as presents to the chiefs of the Balonda. Mpololo 
was particularly liberal in giving all that Sekeletu ordered, 
though, as he feeds on the cattle he has in charge, he might 
have felt it so much abstracted from his own perquisites. 

Leaving Naliele, amid abundance of good wishes for the 
success of our expedition, and hopes that we might return 
accompanied with white traders, we began again our ascent of 
the river. It was now beginning to rise, though the rains 
had but just commenced in the valley. The banks are low, 
but cleanly cut, and seldom sloping. At low-water they are 
from four to eight feet high, and make the river always 
assume very much the aspect of a canal. 

These perpendicular banks afford building-places to a 
pretty bee-eater,* which loves to breed in society. The 

* Merops apiaster and M. bullockoideSf (Smith.} 



LIBONTA. 143 

face of the sand-bank is perforated with hundreds of holes 
leading to their nests, each of which is about a foot apart 
from the other; and as we pass they pour out of their 
hiding-places and float overhead. 

17/A December. — At Libonta. We were detained for days 
together collecting contributions of fat and butter, accord- 
ing to the orders of Sekeletu, as presents to the Balonda 
chiefs. Much fever prevailed, and ophthalmia was rife, as 
is generally the case before the rains begin. Some of my 
own men required my assistance, as well as the people of 
Libonta. A lion had done a good deal of mischief here, 
and when the people went to attack it two men w^ere badly 
wounded; one of them had his thigh-bone quite broken, 
showing the prodigious power of this animal's jaws. The 
inflammation produced by the teeth-wounds proved fatal to 
one of them. 

Here we demanded the remainder of the captives, and 
got our number increased to nineteen. They consisted of 
women and children, and one young man of twenty. One 
of the boys was smuggled away in the crowd as we em- 
barked. The Makololo under-chiefs often act in direct 
opposition to the will of the head-chief, trusting to cir- 
cumstances and brazen-facedness to screen themselves from 
his open displeasure; and, as he does not always find it 
convenient to notice faults, they often go to considerable 
lengths in wrong-doing. 

Libonta is the last town of the Makololo ; so, when we 
parted from it, we had only a few cattle-stations and out- 
lying hamlets in front, and then an uninhabited border- 
country till we came to Londa or Lunda. Libonta is situ- 
ated on a mound, like the rest of the villages in the Barotse 
valley, but here the tree-covered sides of the valley begin 
to approach nearer the river. The village itself belongs to 
two of the chief wives of Sebituane, who furnished us with 
an ox and abundance of other food. The same kindness 
was manifested by all who could afford to give any thing ; 
and, as I glance over their deeds of generosity recorded in 



144 MODE OP PASSING THE NIGHT. 

my journal, my heart glows with gratitude to them, and I 
hope and pray that God may spare me to make them some 
return. 

Before leaving the villages entirely, we may glance at 
our way of spending the nights. As soon as we land, some 
of the men cut a little grass for my bed, while Mashauana 
plants the poles of the little tent. These are used by day 
for carrying burdens, for the Barotse fashion is exactly 
like that of the natives of India, only the burden is fastened 
near the ends of the pole, and not suspended by long cords. 
The bed is made, and boxes ranged on each side of it, and 
thei. the tent pitched over all. Four or five feet in front 
of my tent is placed the principal or kotla fire, the wood 
for which must be collected by the man who occupies the 
post of herald and takes as his perquisite the heads of all 
the oxen slaughtered and of all the game too. Each per- 
son knows the station he is to occupy in reference to the 
post of honor at the fire in front of the door of the tent. 
The two Makololo occupy my right and left, both in eating 
and sleeping, as long as the journey lasts. But Mashauana, 
my head-boatman, makes his bed at the door of the tent as 
soon as I retire. The rest, divided into small companies 
according to their tribes, make sheds all round the fire, 
leaving a horseshoe-shaped space in front sufficient for the 
cattle to stand in. The fire gives confidence to the oxen; 
60 the men are always careful to keep them in sight of it. 
The sheds are formed by planting two stout forked poles 
m an inclined direction, and placing another over these in a 
horizontal position. A number of branches are then stuck in 
tha ground in the direction to which the poles are inclined, 
the twigs drawn down to the horizontal pole and tied with 
strips of bark. Long grass is then laid over the branches 
in sufficient quantity to draw off the rain, and we have 
sheds open to the fire in front but secure from beasts be- 
hind. In less than an hour we were usually all under cover. 
We never lacked abundance of grass during the whole 
journey. It is a picturesque sight at night, when the clear 



ALLIGATORS. 145 

bright moon of these climates glances on the sleeping forms 
around, to look out upon the attitudes of profound repose 
both men and beasts assume. There being no danger from 
wild animals on such a night, the fires are allowed almost 
to go out; and, as there is no fear of hungry dogs coming 
over sleepers and devouring the food, or quietly eating up 
the poor fellows' blankets, which at best were but greasy 
skins, which sometimes happened in the villages, the pic- 
ture was one of perfect peace. 

The cooking is usually done in the natives' own style; 
and, as they carefully wash the dishes, pots, and the hands 
before handling food, it is by no means despicable. Some- 
times alterations are made at my suggestion, and then they 
believe that they can cook in thorough white man's fashion. 
The cook always comes in for something left in the pot; so 
all are eager to obtain the office. 

1 taught several of them to wash my shirts, and they 
did it well, though their teacher had never been taught 
that work himself. Frequent changes of linen and sunning 
of my blanket kept me more comfortable than might have 
been anticij^ated, and I feel certain that the lessons of 
cleanliness rigidly instilled by my mother in childhood 
helped to maintain that respect which these people enter- 
tain for European ways. It is questionable if a descent to 
barbarous ways ever elevates a man in the eyes of savages. 

Part of our company marched along the banks with the 
oxen, and part went in the canoes, but our pace was regu- 
hited by the speed of the men on shore. Their course was 
rather difficult, on account of the numbers of dej^arting and 
re-entering branches of the Leeambye, which they had to 
avoid or wait at till we ferried them over. The number 
of alligators is prodigious, and in this river they are more 
savage than in some others. Many children are carried 
off annually at Sesheke and other towns; for, notwith- 
standing the danger, when they go down for water they 
almost always must play a while. This reptile is said by the 

natives to strike the victim with his tail, then drag him in 
K 13 



146 GAME. 

and drown him. When lying in the water watching for 
prey, the body never appears. Many calves are lost also, 
and it is seldom that a number of cows can swim over at 
Sesheke without some loss. I never could avoid shudder- 
ing on seeing my men swimming across these branches, 
after one of them had been caught by the thigh and taken 
below. He, however, retained, as nearly all of them Id 
the most trying circumstances do, his full presence of mind, 
and, having a small, square, ragged-edged javelin with 
him, when dragged to the bottom gave the alligator a stab 
behind the shoulder. The alligator, ^vrithing in pain, left 
him, and he came out with the deej) marks of the reptile's 
teeth on his thigh. Here the people have no antipathy to 
persons who have met with such an adventure ; but in the 
Bamangwato and Bakwain tribes, if a man is either bitten 
or even has had water splashed over him by the reptile's 
tail, he is expelled his tribe. 

When we had gone thirty or forty miles above Libonta, 
we sent eleven of our captives to the west, to the chief 
called Makoma, with an explanatory message. This 
caused some delay; but as we were loaded with presents 
of food from the Makololo, and the wild animals were in 
enormous herds, we fared sumptuously. It was grievous, 
however, to shoot the lovely creatures, they were so tame. 
With but little skill in stalking, one could easily get within 
fifty or sixty yards of them. There I lay, looking at the 
graceful forms and motions of beautiful pokus, leches, and 
other antelopes, often till my men, wondering what was 
the matter, came up to see, and frightened them away. 
If we had been starving, I could have slaughtered them 
with as little hesitation as I should cut off a patient's leg; 
but I felt a doubt, and the antelopes got the benefit of it. 

My men, having never had fire-arms in their hands be- 
fore, found it so difficult to hold the musket steady at the 
flash of fire in the pan, that they naturally expected me to 
furnish them with ^^gun-medicine," without which, it is 
almost universally believed, no one can shoot straight. 



DIFFICULTY IN USING THE GUN. 147 

Great expectations had been formed when I arrived among 
the Makololo on this subject; but, having invariably de- 
clined to deceive them, as some for their own profit have 
done, my men now supposed that I would at last consent, 
and thereby relieve myself from the hard work of hunting 
by employing them after due medication. This I was most 
willing to do, if I could have done it honestly; for, having 
but little of the hunting-/ii/rore in my composition, I always 
preferred eating the game to killing it. Sulphur is the 
Vemedy most admired, and I remember Sechele giving a 
large price for a very small bit. He also gave some 
elephants' tusks, worth £30, for another medicine which 
was to make him invulnerable to musket-balls. As I 
uniformly recommended that these things should be tested 
by experiment, a calf was anointed with the charm and 
tied to a tree. It proved decisive, and Sechele remarked 
it was "plea^anter to be deceived than undeceived." I 
offered sulphur for the same purpose, but that was declined, 
even though a person came to the town aftei'ward and 
rubbed his hands with a little before a successful trial of 
shooting at a mark. 

I explained to my men the nature of a gun, and tried to 
teach them, but they would soon have expended all the 
ammunition in my possession. I was thus obliged to do 
all the shooting myself ever afterward. Their inability 
was rather a misfortune ; for, in consequence of working 
too soon after having been bitten by the lion, the bone of 
mj left arm had not united well. Continual hard manual 
labor, and some falls from ox-back, lengthened the liga- 
ment by which the ends of the bones were united, and a 
false joint was the consequence. The limb has never been 
painful, as those of my companions on the day of the ren- 
counter with the lion have been; but, there being a joint 
too many, I could not steady the rifle, and was always 
obliged to shoot with the piece resting on the left shoulder. 
I wanted steadiness of aim, and it generally happened that 



148 HIPPOPOTAMI. 

the more hungry the party became, the more frequently 1 
missed the animals. 

Before we came to the junction of the Leeba and 
Leeambye we found the banks twenty feet high, and com- 
posed of marly sandstone. They are covered with trees, 
and the left bank has the tsetse and elephants. I suspect 
the fly has some connection with this animal, and the 
Portuguese in the district of Tete must think so too, for 
they call it the Musca da elephant^ (the elephant-fly.) 

We passed great numbers of hippopotami. They are 
very numerous in the parts of the river where they are 
never hunted. The males appear of a dark color, the 
females of yellowish brown. There is not such a complete 
separation of the sexes among them as among elephants. 
They spend most of their time in the water, lolling about 
in a listless, dreamy manner. When they come out of the 
river by night, they crop off the soft succulent grasses 
very neatly. When they blow, they puff up the water 
about three feet high. 



CHAPTER XY. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE VISITS THE FEMALE CHIEFS MANENKO AND 

NYAMOANA. 

On the 27th of December we were at the confluence of the 
Leeba and Leeambye, (lat. 14° 10' 52" S., long. 23° 35' 40" 
E.) Masiko, the Barotse chief, for whom we had some 
captives, lived nearly due east of this point. They were 
two little boys, a little girl, a young man, and two middle- 
aged women. One of these was a member of a Babimpe 
tribe, who knock out both upper and lower front teeth as 
a distinction. As we had been informed by the captives 
on the previous Sunday that Masiko was in the habit of 
seizing all orphans, and those who have no powerful fnend 



MESSAGE TO MASIKO. 149 

m the tribe whose protection they can claim, and selling 
them fur clothing to the Mambari, we thought the objec- 
tion of the women to go first to his town before seeing their 
friends quite reasonable, and resolved to send a party of 
our own people to see them safely among their relatives. 
I told the captive young man to inform Masiko that ho 
was very unlike his father San turn, who had refused to 
sell his people to Mambari. He will probably be afraid to 
deliver such a message himself, but it is meant for his peo- 
ple, and they will circulate it pretty widely, and Masiko 
may yet feel a little pressure from without. We sent 
Mosantu, a Batoka man, and his companions, w^ith the cap- 
tives. The Barotse whom we had were unwilling to go to 
Masiko, since they owe him allegiance as the son of San- 
turu, and while they continue with Makololo are consi- 
dered rebels. The message by Mosantu was that ^' I was 
Borry to find that Santuru had not borne a wiser son. San- 
turu loved to govern men, but Masiko wanted to govern 
wild beasts only, as he sold his people to the Mambari;'^ 
adding an explanation of the return of the captives, and 
an injunction to him to live in peace, and prevent his 
people kidnapping the children and canoes of the Makololo, 
as a continuance in these deeds would lead to war, which 
I wished to prevent. He was also instructed to say, if 
Masiko wanted fuller explanation of my views, he must 
Bend a sensible man to talk with me at the first town of the 
Balonda, to which I was about to proceed. 

We ferried Mosantu over to the left bank of the Leeba. 
The journey required five days, but it could not have been 
at a quicker rate than ten or twelve miles per day; the 
children were between seven and eight years of age, and 
onable to walk fast in a hot sun. 

Leaving Mosantu to pursue his course, we shall take but 
one glance down the river, which we are now about to 
teave, for it comes at this point from the eastward, and our 
course is to be directed to the northwest, as we mean to 
go to Loanda in Angola. From the confluence, where wo 

13* 



150 NAVIGATION OF THE LEEAMBYE. 

now are, down to Mosioatunya, there are many long 
reaches, where a vessel equal to the Thames steamers ply- 
ing between the bridges could run as freely as they do on 
the Thames. It is often, even here, as broad as that river 
at London Bridge; but, without accurate measurement of 
the depth, one could not say which contained most water. 
There are, however, many and serious obstacles to a con- 
tinued navigation for hundreds of miles at a stretch. 
About ten miles below the confluence of the Loeti, for in- 
stance, there are many large sand-banks in the stream; then 
you have a hundred miles to the river Simah, where a 
Thames steamer could ply at all times of the year ; but, 
again, the space between Simah and Katima-molelo has five 
or six rapids with cataracts, one of which — Gonye — could 
not be passed at any time w^ithout portage. Between 
these rapids there are reaches of still, deep water, of 
several miles in length. Beyond Katima-molelo to the 
confluence of the Chobe you have nearly a hundred miles, 
again, of a river capable of being navigated in the same 
way as in the Barotse valley. 

I^ow, I do not say that this part of the river presents a 
very inviting prospect for extemporaneous Euro23ean enter- 
prise ; but when we have a pathway which requires only 
the formation of portages to make it equal to our canals 
for hundreds of miles, where the philosophers supposed 
there was naught but an extensive sandy desert, we must 
confess that the future partakes at least of the elements 
of hope. My deliberate conviction was and is that tho 
part of the country indicated is as capable of supporting 
millions of inhabitants as it is of its thousands. The grass 
of the Barotse valley, for instance, is such a densely-matted 
mass, that, when ^4aid," the stalks bear each other up, so 
that one feels as if walking on the sheaves of a haystack, 
and the leches nestle under it to bring forth their young 
The soil which produces this, if placed under the plough, 
instead of being mere pasturage, would yield grain sufi* 
cient to feed vast multitudes. 



BUFFALO-HUNT. 151 

"We now began to ascend the Leeba. The water is black 
in color as compared with the main stream, which hero 
assumes the name of Kabompo. The Leeba flows placidly, 
and, unlike the parent river, receives numbers of little rivu- 
lets from both sides. It winds slowly through the most 
charming meadows, each of which has either a soft, sedgy 
centre, large pond, or trickling rill down the middle. 

A large buffalo was wounded, and ran into the thickest 
part of the forest, bleeding profusely. The young men 
went on his trail ; and, though the vegetation was so dense 
that no one could have run more than a few yards, most 
of them went along quite carelessly, picking and eating a 
fruit of the melon-family called mponko. When the animal 
heard them approach, he always fled, shifting his stand 
and doubling on his course in the most cunning manner. 
In other cases I have known them to turn back to a point 
a few yards from their own trail, and then lie down in a 
hollow waiting for the hunter to come up. Though a 
heavy, lumbering-looking animal, his charge is then rapid 
and terrific. More accidents happen by the buffalo and 
the black rhinoceros than by the lion. Though all are 
aware of the mischievous nature of the buffalo when 
wounded, our young men went after him quite carelessly. 
They never lose their presence of mind, but, as a buffalo 
charges back in a forest, dart dexterously out of his way 
behind a tree, and, wheeling round, stab him as he passes. 

On the 28th we slept at a spot on the right bank from 
which had just emerged two broods of alligators. We had 
seen many young ones as we came up ; so this seems to be 
their time of coming forth from the nests, for we saw them 
sunning themselves on sand-banks in company with the 
old ones. We made our fire in one of the deserted nests, 
which were strewed all over with the broken shells. At 
the Zouga we saw sixty eggs taken out of one such nest 
alone. They are about the size of those of a goose, only 
the eggs of the alligator are of the same diameter at both 
ends, and the white shell is partially elastic, from having a 



J52 alligators' eggs. 

strong internal membrane and but little lime in its compo- 
Bition, The distance from the water was about ten feet, 
and there were evidences of the same place having been 
used for a similar purpose in former years. A broad path 
led up from the water to the nest, and the dam, it was said 
by my companions, after depositing the eggs, covers them 
up, and returns afterward to assist the young out of the 
place of confinement and out of the egg. She leads them 
to the edge of the water, and then leaves them to catch 
small fish for themselves. 

When we reached the part of the river opposite to the 
village of Manenko, the first female chief whom we encoun- 
tered, two of the people called Balunda, or Balonda, came 
to us in their little canoe. From them we learned that 
Kolimbota, one of our party, who had been in the habit of 
visiting these parts, was believed by the Balonda to have 
acted as a guide to the marauders under Lerimo, whose 
captives we were now returning. They very naturally 
suspected this, from the facility with which their villages 
had been found; and, as they had since removed them to 
some distance from the river, they were unwilling to lead 
us to their places of concealment. We were in bad repute; 
but, having a captive boy and girl to show in evidence of 
Sekeletu and ourselves not being partakers in the guilt of 
inferior men, I could fully express my desire that all should 
live in peace. They evidently felt that I ought to have 
taught the Makololo first, before coming to them; for they 
remarked that what I advanced was very good, but guilt 
lay at the door of the Makololo for disturbing the pre- 
viously-existing peace. They then went away to report 
us to Manenko. 

When the strangers visited us again in the evening, they 
were accompanied by a- number of the people of an Am- 
bonda chief named Sekelenke. The Ambonda live far to 
the N.W. ; their language (the Bonda) is the common dia- 
lect in Angola. Sekelenke had fled, and was now living 
with his village as a vassal of Masiko. Sekelenke had 



SEKELENKE*S PRESENT 15^ 

gone with his villagers to hunt elephants on the right 
bank of the Leeba, and was now on his way back to 
Masiko. He sent me a dish of boiled zebra's flesh, and a 
request that I should lend him a canoe to ferry his wives 
and family across the river to the bank on which we were 
encamped. Many of Sekelenke's people came to salute the 
first white man they ever had an opportunity of seeing; 
but Sekelenke himself did not come near. We heard he 
was offended with some of his people for letting me know 
he was among the company. He said that I should be 
displeased with him for not coming and making some pre- 
sent. This was the only instance in which I was shunned 
in this quarter. 

Sekelenke and his people, twenty-four in number, defiled 
past our camp, carrying large bundles of dried elephants' 
meat. Most of them came to say good-bye, and Sekelenke 
himself sent to say that he had gone to visit a wife living 
in the village of Manenko. It was a mere African manoeuvre 
to gain information, and not to commit himself to either 
one line of action or another with respect to our visit. As 
he was probably in the party before us, I replied that it 
was all right, and when my people came up from Masiko 
I would go to ir^y wife too. 

To our first message offering a visit of explanation to 
Manenko, we got an answer, with a basket of manioc-roots, 
that we must remain where we were till she should visit 
us. Having waited two days already for her, other mes- 
sengers arrived with orders for me to come to her. After 
four days of rains and negotiation, I declined going at all, 
and proceeded up the river to the small stream Makondo, 
(lat. 18° 23' 12" S.,) which enters the Leeba from the east, 
and is between twenty and thirty yards broad. 

January 1, 1854. — We had heavy rains almost every day: 
indeed, the rainy season had fairly set in. Baskets of the 
])urple fruit called mawa were frequently brought to us by 
the villagers; not for sale, but from a belief that their 



154 MAMBARI TRADERS. 

chiefs would be pleased to hear that they had treated us 
well : we gave them pieces of meat in return. 

When crossing at the confluence of the Leeha and Ma- 
kondo, one of my men picked up a bit of a steel watch- 
chain of English manufacture, and we were informed that 
this was the spot where the Mambari cross in coming to 
Masiko. Their visits explain why Sekelenke kept his tusks 
BO carefully. These Mambari are very enterprising mer- 
chants : when they mean to trade with a town, they delibe- 
rately begin the affair by building huts, as if they knew 
that little business could be transacted without a liberal 
allowance of time for palaver. They bring Manchester 
goods into the heart of Africa; these cotton prints look so 
wonderful that the Makololo could not believe them to be 
the work of mortal hands. On questioning the Mambari, 
they were answered that English manufactures came out 
of the sea, and beads were gathered on its shore. To 
Africans our cotton-mills are fairy dreams. "How can the 
irons spin, weave, and print so beautifully?'* Our country 
is like what Taprobane was to our ancestors, — a strange 
realm of light, whence came the diamond, muslin, and 
peacocks; an attempt at explanation of our manufactures 
usually elicits the expression, " Truly ye are gods I" 

When about to leave the Makondo, one of my men had 
dreamed that Mosantu was shut up a prisoner in a stockade : 
this dream depressed the spirits of the whole party, and 
when I came out of my little tent in the morning, they 
were sitting the pictures of abject sorrow. I asked if we 
were to be guided by dreams, or by the authority I derived 
from Sekeletu, and ordered them to load the boats at once; 
they seemed ashamed to confess their fears; the Makololo 
picked up courage and upbraided the others for having 
such superstitious views, and said this was always their 
way : if even a certain bird called to them, they would turn 
back from an enterprise, saying it was unlucky. They 
entered the canoes at last, and were the better of a little 
scolding for be'ng inclined to put dreams before authority. 



INTERVIEW WITH FEMALE CHIEF. 155 

It rained all the morning, but about eleven we reached tho 
village of Sheakondo, on a small stream named Lonkonye. 
We sent a message to the head-man, who soon appeared 
with two wives, bearing handsome presents of manioc: 
Sheakondo could speak the language of the Barotse well, 
and seemed awe-struck when told some of the '^Avords of 
God." He manifested no fear, always spoke frankly, and, 
when he made an asseveration, did so by simply pointing 
up to the sky above him. 

Sheakondo's old wife presented some manioc-roots, and 
then politely requested to be anointed with butter: as I' 
had been bountifully supplied by the Makololo, I gave her 
as much as would suffice, and, as they have little clothing, 
I can readily believe that she felt her comfort greatly 
enhanced thereby. 

The favorite wife, who was also present, was equally 
anxious for butter. She had a profusion of iron rings on 
her ankles, to which were attached little pieces of sheet- 
iron, to enable her to make a tinkling as she walked in her 
mincing African style; the same thing is thought pretty 
by our own dragoons in walking jauntingly. 

On the 6th of January we reached the village of another 
female chief, named Nyamoana, who is said to be the 
mother of Manenko, and sister of Shinte or Ivabompo, the 
greatest Balonda chief in this part of the country. Her 
people had but recently come to the present locality, and 
had erected only twenty huts. Her husband, Samoana, 
was clothed in a kilt of green and red baize, and w^as armed 
with a spear and a broadsword of antique form, about 
eighteen inches long and three broad. The chief and her 
husband were sitting on skins placed in the middle of a 
circle thirty paces in diameter, a little raised above tho 
ordinary level of the ground, and having a trench round it. 
Outside the trench sat about a hundred persons of all ages 
and both sexes. The men were well armed with bows, 
arrows, sj^ears, and broadsw^ords. Beside the husband sat 
u rather aged woman^ having a bad outward squint in tho 



156 COURT ETIQUETTE. 

left eye. We put down our arms about forty yards off, and 
£ walked up to the centre of the circular bench, and saluted 
aim in the usual way by clapping the hands together in 
their fashion. He pointed to his wife, as much as to say, 
The honor belongs to her. I saluted her in the same way, 
and, a mat having been brought, I squatted down in front 
of them. 

The talker was then called, and I was asked who was 
my spokesman. Having pointed to Kolirabota, who knew 
their dialect best, the palaver began in due form. I ex- 
plained the real objects I had in view, without any attempt 
to mystify or appear in any other character than my own, 
for I have always been satisfied that, even though there 
were no other considerations, the truthful way of dealing 
with the uncivilized is unquestionably the best. Kolimbota 
repeated to Nyamoana's talker what I had said to him. 
He delivered it all verbatim to her husband, who repeated 
it again to her. It was thus all rehearsed four times over, 
in a tone loud enough to be heard by the whole party of 
auditors. The response came back by the same round- 
about route, beginning at the lady to her husband, &c. 

After explanations and re-explanations, I perceived that 
our new friends were mixing up my message of peace and 
friendship with Makololo affairs, and stated that it was 
not delivered on the authority of any one less than that 
of their Creator, and that if the Makololo did again break 
his laws and attack the Balonda, the guilt would rest with 
the Makololo and not with me. The palaver then came to 
a close. 

By way of gaining their confidence, I showed them my 
hair, which is considered a curiosity in all this region. They 
said, " Is that hair? It is the mane of a lion, and not hair 
at alL'^ Some thought that I had made a wig of lion's 
mane, as they sometimes do with fibres of the *Mfe," and 
dye it black and twist it so as to resemble a mass of their 
own wool. I could not return the joke by telling them 
that theirs was not hair, but the wool of sheep, for they 



INCREASE OF SUPERSTITION. 157 

have none of these in the country; and even though they 
had, as Herodotus remarked, '^ the African sheep are clothed 
with hair, and men's heads with wool." So I had to be 
content with asserting that mine wa^ the real origh^al hair, 
Buch as theirs would have been had it not been scorched 
and frizzled by the sun. In proof of what the sun could 
do, I compared my own bronzed face and hands, then about 
the same in complexion as the lighter-colored Makololo, 
with the white skin of my chest. They readily believed 
that, as they go nearly naked and fully exposed to that 
influence, we might be of common origin after all. Here, 
as everywhere when heat and moisture are combined, the 
people are very dark, but not quite black. There is always 
a shade of brown in the most deeply colored. I showed 
my watch and pocket-compass, which are considered great 
curiosities j but, though the lady was called on by her hus- 
band to look, she would not be persuaded to approach near 
enough. 

These people are more superstitious than any we had 
yet encountered : though still only building their village, 
they had found time to erect two little sheds at the chief 
dwelling in it, in which were placed two pots having charms 
in them. When asked what medicine they contained, they 
replied, "Medicine for the Barimo;'^ but when I rose and 
looked into them they said they were medicine for the 
fi-ame. Here we saw the first evidence of the existence of 
idolatry, in the remains of an old idol at a deserted village. 
It was simply a human head carved on a block of wood. 
Certain charms mixed with red ochre and white pipe-clay 
are dotted over them when they are in use; and a crooked 
stick is used in the same way for an idol when they have 
no professional carver. 

As the Leeba seemed still to come from the direction in 
\\'hich we wished to go, I was desirous of proceeding far- 
ther up with the canoes; but Nyamoana was anxious that 
we should allow her people to conduct us to her brother 
Shinte; and, when I explained to her the advantage of 

14 



158 MODE OP SALUTATION. 

water-carriage, she represented that her brother did not 
live near the river, and, moreover, there was a cataract in 
front, over which it would be difficult to convey the canoes. 
She was afraid, too, that the Balobale, whose country lies 
to the west of the river, not knowing the objects for which 
we had come, would kill us. To my reply that I had been 
80 often threatened with death if I visited a new tribe 
that I was now more afraid of killing any one than of 
being killed, she rejoined that the Balobale would not kill 
mo, but the Makololo would all be sacrificed as their ene- 
mies. This produced considerable effect on my companions, 
and inclined them to the plan of Nyamoana, of going to 
the town of her brother rather than ascending the Leeba. 
The arrival of Manenko herself on the scene threw so 
much weight into the scale on their side that I was forced 
to yield the point. 

Manenko was a tall, strapping woman about twenty, dis- 
tinguished by a profusion of ornaments and medicines hung 
round her person; the latter are supposed to act as charms. 
Her body was smeared all over with a mixture of fat and 
red ochre, as a protection against the weather; a necessaiy 
precaution, for, like most of the Balonda ladies, she was 
otherwise in a state of frightful nudity. This was not from 
want of clothing; for, being a chief, she might have been 
as well clad as any of her subjects, but from her peculiar 
ideas of elegance in dress. When she arrived with her 
husband, Sambanza, they listened for some time to the 
statements I was making to the people of Nyamoana, after 
which the husband, acting as spokesman, commenced an 
oration, stating the reasons for their coming; and, during 
every two or three seconds of the delivery, he picked up a 
little sand and rubbed it on the upper part of his arms 
and chest. This is a common mode of salutation in Londa; 
and when they wish to be excessively polite they bring 
a quantity of ashes or pipe-clay in a piece of skin, and, 
taking up handfuls, rub it on the chest and upper front 
part of each arm ; others, in saluting, drum their ribs with 



EMBASSY AND PRESENT FROM MASIKO. 159 

their elbows ; while others still touch the ground with one 
cheek after the other, and clap their hands. The chiefs go 
through the manoeuvre of rubbing the sand on the arms, 
but only make a feint of picking up some. When Sam- 
banza had finished his oration, he rose up and showed his 
ankles ornamented with a bundle of copper rings : had 
they been very heavy they would have made him adopt a 
straggling walk. Some chiefs have really so many as to be 
forced, by the weight and size, to keep one foot apart from 
the other, the weight being a serious inconvenience in 
walking. The gentlemen like Sambanza, who wish to 
imitate their betters, do so in their walk; so you see men 
with only a few ounces of ornament on their legs strutting 
along as if they had double the number of pounds. When 
I smiled at Sambanza's walk, the people remarked, " That 
is the way in which they show off their lordship in these 
parts." 

Manenko was quite decided in the adoption of the policy 
of friendship with the Makololo which we recommended ; 
and, by way of cementing the bond, she and her coun- 
sellors proposed that Kolimbota should take a wife among 
them. Kolimbota, I found, thought favorably of the pro- 
position, and it afterward led to his desertion from us. 

On the evening of the day in which Manenko arrived, 
we were delighted by the appearance of Mosantu and an 
imposing embassy from Masiko. It consisted of all his 
under-chiefs; and they brought a fine elephant's tusk, two 
calabashes of honey, and a large piece of blue baizo, as a 
present. The last was intended perhaps to show mo that 
he was a truly great chief, who had such stores of white 
men's goods at hand that he could afford to give presents 
of them ; it might also be intended for Mosantu, for chiefs 
usually remember the servants : I gave it to him. Masiko 
expressed delight, by his principal men, at the return of 
the captives, and at the proposal of peace and alliance 
with the Makololo. He stated that he never sold any of 
liis own people to the Mambari, bu', only captives whom 



160 MANENKO A SCOLD. 

his people kidnapped from small neighboring tribes. When 
the question was put whether his people had been in 
the habit of molesting the Makololo by kidnapping their 
servants and stealing canoes, it was admitted that two 
of his men, when hunting, had gone to the Makololo 
gardens, to see if any of their relatives were there. As 
the great object in all native disputes is to get both parties 
to turn over a new leaf, I explained the desirableness of 
forgetting past feuds, accepting the present Makololo pro- 
fessions as genuine, and avoiding in future to give them 
any cause for marauding, I presented Masiko with an ox 
furnished by Sekeletu as provision for ourselves. 

We were now without any provisions, except a small 
dole of manioc-roots each evening from Nyamoana, which, 
when eaten raw, produce poisonous effects. A small loaf, 
made from nearly the last morsel of maize-meal from Li- 
bonta, was my stock, and our friends from Masiko were 
still more destitute; yet we all rejoiced so much at their 
arrival that we resolved to spend a day with them. The 
Barotse of our party, meeting with relatives and friends 
among the Barotse of Masiko, had many old tales to tell ; 
and, after pleasant hungry converse by day, we regaled 
our friends with the magic lantern by night ; and, in order 
to make the thing of use to all, we removed our camp up 
to the village of Nyamoana. This is a good means of 
arresting the attention and conveying important facts to 
the minds of these people. 

When erecting our sheds at the village, Manenko fell 
upon our friends from Masiko in a way that left no doubt 
on our minds but that she is a most accomplished scold. 
Masiko had, on a former occasion, sent to Samoana for 
a cloth, — a common way of keeping up intercourse, — and, 
after receiving it, sent it back, because it had the appear- 
ance of having had " witchcraft-medicine'' on it : this was 
a grave offence, and now Manenko had a good excuse for 
venting her spleen, the ambassadors having called at hei 
village and slept in one of the huts without leave. If hei 



DETAINED BY MANENKO. 161 

family was to be suspected of dealing in evil jharms, why- 
were Masiko's people not to be thought guilty of leaving 
the same in her hut ? She advanced and receded in true 
oratorical style, belaboring her own servants as well for 
allowing the offence, and, as usual in more civilized femi- 
nine lectures, she leaned over the objects of her ire, and 
screamed forth all their faults and failings ever since they 
were born, and her despair of ever seeing them become 
better until they were all ^^ killed by alligators." Masiko's 
people followed the plan of receiving this torrent of abuse 
in silence, and, as neither we nor they had any thing to 
eat, we parted next morning. In reference to Masiko 
selling slaves to the Mambari, they promised to explain 
the relationship which exists between even the most abject 
of his people and our common Father; and that no more 
kidnapping ought to be allowed, as he ought to give that 
peace and security to the smaller tribes on his eastern 
borders which he so much desired to obtain himself from 
the Makololo. We promised to return through his town 
when we came back from the sea-coast. 

Manenko gave us some manioc-roots in the morning, 
and had determined to carry our baggage to her uncle's, 
Ivabompo or Shinte. We had heard a sample of what 
she could do with her tongue ; and, as neither my men nor 
myself had much inclination to encounter a scolding from 
this black Mrs. Caudle, we made ready the packages; but 
she came and said the men whom she had ordered for the 
service had not yet come : they would arrive to-morrow. 
Being on low and disagreeable diet, I felt annoyed at this 
further delay, and ordered the packages to be put into tho 
canoes to proceed up the river without her servants. But 
Manenko was not to be circumvented in this way : she 
came forward with her people, and said her uncle would 
be angry if she did not carry forward the tusks and goods 
of Sekeletu, seized the luggage, and declared that she 
would carry it in spite of me. My men succumbed sooner 
to this petticoat-government than I felt inclined to do, and 

L 14* 



162 CHARMS. 

left me no power ; and, being unwilling to encounter her 
tongue, I was moving off to the canoes, when she gave me 
a kind explanation, and, with her hand on my shoulder, 
put on a motherly look, saying, ^^Now, my little man, just 
do as the rest have done." My feelings of annoyance of 
course vanished. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE VISITS SHINTE, CHIEF OP THE BALONDA. 

11th of January, 1854. — On starting this morning, Samoana 
(or rather Nyamoana, for the ladies are the chiefs here) 
presented a string of beads, and a shell highly valued 
among them, as an atonement for having assisted Manenko, 
as they thought, to vex me the day before. They seemed 
anxious to avert any evil which might arise from my dis- 
pleasure; but, having replied that I never kept my anger 
up all night, they were much pleased to see me satisfied. 
We had to cross, in a canoe, a stream which flows past 
the village of Nyamoana. Manenko's doctor waved some 
charms over her, and she took some in her hand and on 
her body before she ventured upon the water. One of my 
men spoke rather loudly when near the doctor's basket of 
medicines. The doctor reproved him, and always spoke 
in a whisper himself, glancing back to the basket as if 
afraid of being heard by something therein. So much 
superstition is quite unknown in the south, and is men- 
tioned here to show the difference in the feelings of this 
new people, and the comparative want of reverence on 
these points among Caffres and Bechuanas. 

Manenko was accompanied by her husband and her 
drummer; the latter continued to thump most vigorously 
until a heavy, drizzling mist set in and compelled him to 



HUNGER. 163 

desist. Her husband used various incantations and vocife". 
rations to drive away the rain, but down it poured inces- 
santly, and on our Amazon went, in the very lightest 
marching-order, and at a pace that few of the men could 
keep up with. Being on ox-back, I kept pretty close to 
our leader, and asked her why she did not clothe herself 
during the rain, and learned that it is not considered proper 
for a chief to appear effeminate. He or she must always 
wear the appearance of robust youth and bear vicissitudes 
without wincing. My men, in admiration of her pedestrian 
powers, every now and then remarked, ^^Manenko is a 
soldier/' and, thoroughly wet and cold, we were all glad 
when she proposed a halt to prepare our night's lodging 
on the banks of a stream. 

JSText day we passed through a piece of forest so dense that 
no one could have penetrated it without an axe. It was 
flooded, not by the river, but by the heavy rains which 
poured down every day and kept those who had clothing 
constantly wet. I observed in this piece of forest a very 
strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen. This I had observed 
repeatedly in other parts before. I had attacks of fever 
of the intermittent type again and again, in consequence 
of repeated drenchings in these unhealthy spots. 

On the 11th and 12th we were detained by incessant 
rains, and so heavy I never saw the like in the south. I 
had a little taj)ioca and a small quantity of Libonta meal, 
which I still reserved for worse times. The patience of 
my men under hunger was admirable ; the actual want of 
the present is never so painful as the thought of getting 
nothing in the future. AYe thought the people of some 
large hamlets very niggardly and very independent of their 
chiefs, for they gave us and Manenko nothing, though they 
had large fields of maize in an eatable state around them. 
When she went and kindly begged some for me, they gave 
her five ears only. They were subjects of her uncle, and, 
had they beim Makololo, would have been lavish in their 
gifts to the niece of their chief I suspected that thej> 



164 DENSE FORESTS. 

wej'e dependents of some of Shinte's principal men, and 
had no power to part with the maize of their masters. 

The forests became more dense as we went north. We 
travelled much more in the deep gloom of the forest than 
in open sunlight. No passage existed on either side of the 
narrow path made by the axe. Large climbing plants 
entwined themselves around the trunks and branches of 
gigantic trees like boa-constrictors, and they often do con- 
strict the trees by which they rise, and, killing them, stand 
erect themselves. The bark of a fine tree found in abun- 
dance here, and called ^'motuia," is used by the Barotse for 
making fish-lines and nets, and the "molompi," so well 
adapted for paddles by its lightness and flexibility, was 
abundant. There were other trees quite new to my com- 
panions : many of them ran up to a height of fifty feet of 
one thickness, and without branches. 

In these forests we first encountered the artificial bee- 
hives so commonly met with all the way from this to 
Angola. They consist of about five feet of the bark of a 
tree fifteen or eighteen inches in diameter. Two incisions 
are made right round the tree at points five feet apart, 
then one longitudinal slit from one of these to the other; 
the workman next lifts up the bark on each side of this slit, 
and detaches it from the trunk, taking care not to break it, 
until the whole comes from the tree. The elasticity of the 
bark makes it assume the form it had before ; the slit is 
sewed or pegged up with wooden pins, and ends made of 
coiled grass rope are inserted, one of which has a hole for 
the ingress of the bees in the centre, and the hive is com- 
plete. These hives are placed in a horizontal position on 
high trees in different parts of the forest, and in this way 
all the wax exported from Benguela and Loanda is col- 
lected. It is all the produce of free labor. A "piece of 
medicine" is tied round the trunk of the tree, and proves 
sufficient protection against thieves. The natives seldom 
rob each other, for all believe that certain medicines can 
inflict disease and death; and, though they consider that 



NATURAL WELLS. 165 

these are only known to a few, they act on the principle 
that it is best to let them all alone. The gloom of these 
forests strengthens the superstitious feelings of the people. 
In other quarters, where they are not subjected to this 
influence, I have heard the chiefs issue proclamations to 
the effect that real witchcraft-medicines had been placed at 
certain gardens from which produce had been stolen, the 
thieves having risked the power of the ordinary charms 
previously placed there. 

There was considerable pleasure, in spite of rain and 
fever, in this new scenery. The deep gloom contrasted 
strongly with the shadeless glare of the Kalahari, which 
had left an indelible impression on my memory. Though 
drenched day by day at this time, and for months after- 
ward, it was long before I could believe that we were 
getting too much of a good thing. Nor could I look at 
water being thrown away without a slight, quick impres- 
sion flitting across the mind that we were guilty of wast- 
ing it. Every now and then we emerged from the deep 
gloom into a pretty little valley, having a damp portion in 
the middle ; which, though now filled with water, at other 
times contains moisture enough for wells only. These wells 
have shades put over them in the form of little huts. 

We crossed, in canoes, a little never-failing stream, which 
passes by the name of Lefuje, or '^ the rapid.^' It comes 
from a goodly high mountain, called Monakadzi, (the 
woman,) which gladdened our eyes as it rose to our sight 
about twenty or thirty miles to the east of our course. It 
is of an oblong shape, and seemed at least eight hundred 
feet above the plains. The Lefuje probably derives its 
name from the rapid descent of the short course it has to 
flow from Monakadzi to the Leeba. 

The number of little villages seemed about equal to the 
number of valleys. At some we stopped and rested, the 
people becoming more liberal as we advanced. Others we 
found deserted, a sudden panic having seized the inhabit- 
ants, though the drum of Nanenko was kept beaten pretty 



166 LENDING ROOFS OP HUTS. 

constantly, in order to give notice of the approach of great 
people. When we had decided to remain for the night at 
any village, the inhabitants lent us the roofs of their huts, 
which in form resemble those of the Makololo, or a China- 
man's hat, and can be taken off the walls at pleasure. 
They lifted them off, and brought them to the spot we had 
selected as our lodging, and, when my men had propped 
them up with stakes, they were then safely housed for the 
night. Every one who comes to salute either Manenko or 
ourselves rubs the upper parts of the arms and chest with 
ashes ; those who wish to show profounder reverence put 
some also on the face. 

We found that every village had its idols near it. This 
is the case all through the countiy of the Balonda, so that, 
when we came to an idol in the woods, we always knew 
that we were within a quarter of an hour of human habi- 
tations. One very ugly idol we passed rested on a hori- 
zontal beam placed on two upright posts. This beam was 
furnished with two loops of cord, as of a chain, to suspend 
offerings before it On remarking to my companions that 
these idols had ears, but that they heard not, &c., I learned 
that the Balonda, and even the Barotse, believe that divina- 
tion may be performed by means of these blocks of wood 
and clay; and, though the wood itself could not hear, the 
owners had medicines by which it could be made to hear 
and give responses, so that if an enemy were approaching 
they would have full information. Manenko having brought 
us to a stand on account of slight indisposition and a desire 
to send forward notice of our approach to her uncle, 1 
asked why it was necessary to send forward information 
of our movements if Shinte had idols who could tell him 
every thing. '^ She did it only,^'* was the reply. It is 
seldom of much use to show one who worships idols the 
folly of idolatry without giving something else as an object 

* This is a curious African idiom, by wliich a person implies he had no 
particular reason for his act. 



MANENKO'S WHIMS. 167 

of adoration instead. They do not love them. They fear 
them, and betake themselves to their idols only when in 
perplexity and danger. 

While delayed, by Manenko's management, among the 
Bulonda villages, a little to the south of the town of 
Shinte, we were well supplied by the villagers with sweet 
potatoes and green maize : Sambanza went to his mother's 
village for supplies of other food. I was laboring under 
fever, and did not find it very difficult to exercise patience 
with her whims; but, it being Saturday, I thought we 
might as well go to the town for Sunday, (15th.) <* No : 
her messenger must return from her uncle first." Being 
sure that the answer of the uncle would be favorable, I 
thought we might go on at once, and not lose two days in 
the same spot. "No : it is our custom;" and every thing 
else I could urge was answered in the genuine pertinacious 
lady style. She ground some meal for me with her own 
hands, and when she brought it told me she had actually 
gone to a village and begged corn for the purpose. She 
said this with an air as if the inference must be drawn by 
even a stupid white man, ^'I know how to manage, don't 
I V It was refreshing to get food which could be eaten 
without producing the unpleasantness desci^bed by the 
Eev. John Newton, of St. Mary's, Woolnoth, London, 
when obliged to eat the same roots while a slave in the 
"West Indies. The day, (January 14th,) for a wonder, was 
fair, and the sun shone, so as to allow us to dry our cloth- 
ing and other goods, many of which were mouldy and 
rotten from the long-continued damp. The guns rusted, 
in spite of being oiled every evening. 

On Sunday afternoon, messengers arrived from Shinte, 
expressing his approbation of the objects we had in view 
in our journey through the country, and that he was glad 
of the prospect of a way being opened by which white 
men might visit and allow him to purchase ornaments at 
pleasure. Manenko now threatened in sport to go on, and 
t soon afterward perceived that what now seemed to me 



168 MODE OF APPROACHING VILLAGES. 

the dilly-dallying way of this lady was the proper mode 
of making acquaintance with the Balonda; and much of 
the favor with which I was received in different places 
was owing to my sending forward messengers to state the 
object of our coming before entering each town and vil- 
lage. When we came in sight of a village, we sat down 
under the shade of a tree and sent forward a man to give 
notice who we were and what were our objects. The head- 
man of the village then sent out his principal men, as 
Shinte now did, to bid us welcome and show us a tree 
under which we might sleep. Before I had profited by the 
rather tedious teaching of Manenko, I sometimes entered 
a village and created unintentional alarm. The villagers 
would continue to look upon us with suspicion as long as 
we remained. Shinte sent us two large baskets of manioc 
and six dried fishes. His men had the skin of a monkey, 
called in their tongue " poluma," {Colobus guereza,) of a jet- 
black color, except the long mane, which is pure white : it 
is said to be found in the north, in the country of Mati- 
amvo, the paramount chief of all the Balonda. We 
learned from them that they are in the habit of praying 
to their idols when unsuccessful in killing game or in any 
other enterprise. They behaved with reverence at our re- 
ligious services. This will appear important if the reader 
remembers the almost total want of prayer and reverence 
we encountered in the south. 

Our friends informed us that Shinte would be highly 
honored by the presence of three white men in his town 
at once. Two others had sent forward notice of their ap- 
proach from another quarter, (the west;) could it be Barth 
or Krapf ? How pleasant to meet with Europeans in such 
an out-of-the-way region ! The rush of thoughts made me 
almost forget my fever. Are they of the same color as I 
am? ^^Yes; exactly so." And have the same hair ? ^'Is 
that hair? we thought it was a wig; we never saw the 
like before : this white man must be of the sort that lives 
in the sea." Henceforth my men took the hint, and always 



A MERMAN. 160 

eouTided my praises aa a true specimen of the variety of 
white men who live in the sea. ^'Only look at his hair; it 
is made quite straight by the sea-water!'^ 

I explained to them again and again that, when it was 
said we came out of the sea, it did not mean that we came 
from beneath the water; but the fiction has been widely 
spread in the interior by the Mambari that the real white 
n en lire in the sea, and the myth was too good not to be 
taken advantage of by my companions : so, notwithstand- 
ing my injunctions, I believe that, when I was out of hear- 
ing, my men always represented themselves as led by a 
genuine merman : "Just see his hair I" If I returned from 
walking to a little distance, they would remark of some to 
whom they had been holding forth, " These people want to 
see your hair." 

As the strangers had woolly hair like themselves, I had 
to give up the idea of meeting any thing more European 
than two half-caste Portuguese engaged in trading for 
slaves, ivory, and bees'-wax. 

l&h. — After a short march we came to a most lovely valley 
about a mile and a half wide, and stretching away east- 
ward up to a low prolongation of Monakadzi. A small 
stream meanders down the centre of this pleasant green 
glen; and on a little rill, which flows into it from the 
western side, stands the town of Kabompo, or, as he likes 
best to be called, Shinte. (Lat. 12° 37' 35'' S., long. 22° 
47' E.) When Manenko thought the sun was high enough 
for us -to make a lucky entrance, we found the town em- 
bowered in banana and other tropical trees having great 
expansion of leaf; the streets are straight, and present a 
complete contrast to those of the Bechuanas, which are all 
very tortuous. Here, too, we first saw native huts with 
square walls and round roofs. Goats were browsing about, 
and, when we made our appearance, a crowd of negroes, 
all fully armed, ran toward us as if they would eat us up • 
some had guns, but the manner in which they were held 
showed that the owners were more accustomed to bows 

15 I 



170 SLAVE-TRADERS. 

and arrows than to white men's weapons. After surround- 
ing and staring at us for an hour, they began to disperse. 

The two native Portuguese traders of whom we had hoard 
had erected a little encampment opposite the place where 
ours was about to be made. One of them, whose spine 
had been injured in youth, — a rare sight in this country, — 
came and visited us. I returned the visit next morning. 
His tall companion had that sickly yellow hue which made 
him look fairer than myself, but his head was covered with 
a crop of unmistakable wool. They had a gang of young 
female slaves in a chain, hoeing the ground in front of their 
encampment to clear it of weeds and grass ; these were 
purchased recently in Lobale, whence the traders had now 
come. There were many Mambari with them, and the 
establishment was conducted with that military order which 
pervades all the arrangements of the Portuguese colonists. 
A drum was beaten and trumpet sounded at certain hours, 
quite in military fashion. It was the first time most of my 
men had seen slaves in chains. " They are not men,'' they 
exclaimed, (meaning, they are beasts,) ^'who treat their 
children so." 

The Balonda are real negroes, having much more wool 
on their heads and bodies than any of the Bechuana or 
Caffre tribes. They are generally very dark in color, but 
several are to be seen of a lighter hue; many of the slaves 
who have been exported to Brazil have gone from this 
region; but, while they have a general similarity to the 
typical negro, I never could, from my own observation, 
think that our ideal negro, as seen in tobacconists' shops, 
18 the true t^^pe. A large proj^ortion of the Balonda, indeed, 
have heads somewhat elongated backward and upward, 
thick lips, flat noses, elongated ossa calces, &c. &c.; but there 
are also many good-looking, well-shaped heads and persons 
among them. 

17thy Tuesday. — We were honored with a grand recep- 
tion by Shinte about eleven o'clock. Sambanza claimed 
the honor of presenting us, Manenko being slightly indis- 



RECEPTION BY SHINTE. 171 

posed. The native Portuguese and Mambari went fully 
armed with guns, in order to give Shinte a salute, their 
drummer and trumpeter making all the noise that very 
old instruments would produce. The kotla, or place of 
audience, was about a hundred yards square, and two 
graceful specimens of a species of banian stood near one 
end ; under one of these sat Shinte, on a sort of throne 
covered with a leopard's skin. He had on a checked 
jacket and a kilt of scarlet baize edged with green -, many 
strings of large beads hung from his neck, and his limbs 
were covered wi\h iron and copper armlets and bracelets; 
on his head he wore a helmet made of beads woven neatly 
together and crowned with a great bunch of goose-feathers. 
Close to him sat three lads with large sheaves of arrows 
over their shoulders. 

When we enterevX the kotla, the whole of Manenko'a 
party saluted Shinte by clapping their hands, and Sam- 
banza <slid obeisance by rubbing his chest and arms with 
ashes. One of the trees being unoccupied, I retreated to 
it for the sake of the shade, and my whole party did the 
same. We were now aboat forty yards from the chief, 
and could see the whole ceremony. The different sections 
of the tribe came forward in the same way that we did, 
the head-man of each making obeisance with ashes which 
he carried with him for the purpose ; then came the sol- 
diers, all armed to the teeth, running and shouting toward 
us, with their swords drawn and their faces screwed up so 
as to appear as savage as possible, for the purpose, I 
thought, of trying whether they could not make us take to 
our heels. As we did not, they turned round toward 
Shinte and saluted him, then retired. When all had como 
and were seated, then began the curious capering usually 
seen in pichos. A man starts up, and imitates the most 
approved attitudes observed in actual fight, as throwing 
one javelin, receiving another on the shield, springing to 
one side to avoid a third, running backward or forward, 
leaping, &c. This over, Sambanza and the spokesman of 



172 RECEPTION BY SHINTE. 

Nyamoana stalked backward and forward in front vl 
Shinte, and gave forth, in a loud voice, all they had been 
able to learn, either from myself or people, of my past his- 
tory and connection with the Makololo; the return of the 
captives ; the wish to open the country to trade ; the Bible 
as a word from heaven; the white man's desire for the 
tribes to live in peace : he ought to have taught the Ma- 
kololo that first, for the Balonda never attacked them, yet 
they had assailed the Balonda : perhaps he is fibbing, per- 
haps not : they rather thought he was ; but as the Balonda 
had good hearts, and Shinte had never done harm to any 
one, he had better receive the white man well, and send 
him on his way. Sambanza was gayly attired, and, be- 
sides a profusion of beads, had a cloth so long that a boy 
carried it after him as a train. 

Behind Shinte sat about a hundred women, clothed in 
their best, which happened to be a profusion of red baize. 
The chief wife of Shinte, one of the Matebele or Zulus, sat 
Jn front with a curious red cap on her head. During the 
intervals between the speeches, these ladies burst forth 
into a sort of plaintive ditty; but it was impossible for any 
of us to catch whether it was in praise of the speaker, of 
Shinte, or of themselves. This was the first time I had 
ever seen females present in a public assembly. In the 
south the women are not permitted to enter the kotla, 
and, even when invited to come to a religious service there, 
would not enter until ordered to do so by the chief; but 
here they expressed their apj^^'obation by clapping their 
hands and laughing to diiferent speakers ; and Shinte fre- 
quently turned round and spoke to them. 

A party of musicians, consisting of three drummers and 
four performers on the piano, went round the kotla several 
times, regaling us with their music. Their drums are 
neatly carved from the trunk of a tree, and have a small 
hole in the side covered with a bit of spider's web : the 
ends are covered with the skin of an antelope pegged on ; 
and, when they wish to tighten it, they hold it to the fire 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 173 

to make it contract : the instruments are beaten with tho 
hands. 

The piano, named ^^ marimba," consists of two bars of 
wood placed side by side, here quite straight, but, farther 
north, bent round so as to resemble half the tire of a car- 
riage-wheel ; across these are placed about fifteen w^ooden 
keys, each of which is two or three inches broad and 
fifteen or eighteen inches long; their thickness is regu- 
lated according to the deepness of the note required : each 
of the keys has a calabash beneath it; from the upper part 
of each a portion is cut off to enable them to embrace the 
bars, and form hollow sounding-boards to the keys, which 
also are of different sizes, according to the note required ; 
and little drumsticks elicit the music. Eapidity of execu- 
tion seems much admired among them, and the music is 
pleasant to the ear. In Angola the Portuguese use the 
marimba in their dances. 

When nine speakers had concluded their orations, Shinte 
stood up, and so did all the people. He had maintained 
true African dignity of manner all the while, but my 
people remarked that he scarcely ever took his eyes off me 
for a moment. About a thousand people were present, 
according to my calculation, and three hundred soldiers. 
The sun had now become hot ; and the scene ended by the 
Mambari discharging their guns. 

ISth. — We were awakened during the night by a message 
from Shinte, requesting a visit at a very unseasonable hour. 
As I was just in the sweating-stage of an intermittent, and 
the path to the town lay through a wet valley, I declined 
going. Kolimbota, who knows their customs best, urged 
me to go ; but, independent of sickness, I hated words of 
the night and deeds of darkness. "I was neither a hyena 
nor a witch." Kolimbota thought that we ought to con- 
form to their wishes in every thing : I thought we ought 
to have some choice in the matter as well, which put him 
into high dudgeon. However, at ten next morning wo 
went; and were led into the courts of Shinte, the walls of 

15* 



174 PRIVATE INTERVIEW WITH SHINTE. 

which were woven rods, all very neat and high. Many 
trees stood within the enclosure and afforded a grateful 
shade. These had been planted, for we saw some recently 
put in, with grass wound round the trunk to protect them 
from the sun. The otherwise waste corners of the streets 
were planted with sugarcane and bananas, which spread 
their lara'e lio;ht leaves over the walls. 

The Ficus Indica tree, under which we now sat, had 
very large leaves, but showed its relationship to the Indian 
banian by sending down shoots toward the ground. Shinto 
soon came, and appeared a man of upward of fifty-five 
years of age, of frank and open countenance, and about 
the middle height. He seemed in good humor, and said he 
had expected yesterday " that a man who came from the 
gods would have approached and talked to him.'' That 
had been my own intention in going to the reception ; but 
when we came and saw the formidable preparations, and 
all his own men keeping at least forty yards off from him, 
I yielded to the solicitations of my men, and remained by 
the tree opposite to that under which he sat. His remark 
confirmed my previous belief that a frank, open, fearless 
manner is the most winning with all these Africans. I 
stated the object of my journey and mission, and to all 1 
advanced the old gentleman clapped his hands in approba- 
tion. He replied through a spokesman; then all the com- 
pany joined in the response by clapping of hands too. 

After the more serious business was over, I asked 
if he had ever seen a white man before. He replied, 
^' Never : you are the very first I have seen with a white 
Bkin and straight hair : your clothing, too, is different from 
any we have ever seen." They had been visited by native 
Portuguese and Mambari only. 

On learning from some of the people that ^^Shinte's 
mouth was bitter for want of tasting ox-flesh," I presented 
him with an ox, to his great delight; and, as his country 
is so well adapted for cattle, I advised him to begin a trade 
in cows with the Makololo. He was pleased with the idea, 



FERTILITY OF SOIL. 175 

and when we returned from Loanda we found that he had 
profited by the hint, for he had got three, and one of them 
justified my opinion of the country, for it was more hke a 
prize-heifer for fatness than any we had seen in Africa. 
He soon afterward sent us a basket of green maize boiled, 
another of manioc-meal, and a small fowl. 

During this time Manenko had been extremely busy 
with all her people in getting up a very pretty hut and 
court-yard, to be, as she said, her residence always when 
white men were brought by her along the same path. 
When she heard that we had given an ox to her uncle, 
she came forward to us with the air of one wronged, and 
explained that ^^this white man belonged to her; she had 
brought him here, and therefore the ox was hers, not 
Shinte's." She ordered her men to bring it, got it slaugh- 
tered by them, and presented her uncle with a leg only. 
Shinte did not seem at all annoyed at the occurrence. 

19^^. — I was awakened at an early hour by a messenger 
from Shinte ; but, the thirst of a raging fever being just 
assuaged by the bursting forth of a copious perspiration, I 
declined going for a few hours. Violent action of the 
heart all the way to the town did not predispose me to be 
patient with the delay which then occurred, probably on 
account of the divination being unfavorable : — "They could 
not find Shinte." When I returned to bed, another mes- 
sage was received : — '^ Shinte wished to say all he had to 
tell me at once." This was too tempting an offer; so we 
went, and he had a fowl ready in his hand to present, also 
a basket of manioc-meal, and a calabash of mead. Eefer- 
ring to the constantly-recurring attacks of fever, he re- 
marked that it was the only thing which would prevent 
a successful issue to my journey, for he had men lo guide 
me who knew all the paths which led to the white men. 
He had himself travelled far when a young man. On 
asking what he would recommend for the fever, " Drink 
plenty of the mead, and as it gets in it will drive the fever 
out." It was rather strong, and I suspect he liked the 



176 KIDNAPPING 

remedy pretty well, even though he had no fever. He had 
always been a friend to Sebituane ; and, now that his son 
Sekcletu was in his place, Shinte was not merely a friend, 
but a father to him; and if a son asks a favor the father 
must give it. He was highly pleased with the largo cala- 
bashes of clarified butter and fat which Sekeletu had sent 
him, and wished to detain Kolimbota, that he might send 
a present back to Sekeletu by his hands. This proposition 
we afterward discovered was Kolimbota's own, as he had 
heard so much about the ferocity of the tribes through 
which we were to pass that he wished to save his skin. 
It will be seen farther on that he was the only one of our 
party who returned with a wound. 

An incident which occurred while we were here may bo 
mentioned, as of a character totally unknown in the south. 
Two children, of seven and eight years old, went out to 
collect firewood a short distance from their parents' home, 
which was a quarter of a mile from the village, and were 
kidnapped; the distracted parents could not find a trace of 
them. This happened so close to the town, where there 
are no beasts of prey, that we suspect some of the high 
men of Shinte' s court were the guilty parties : they can 
sell them by night. The Mambari erect large huts of a 
square shape to stow these stolen ones in ; they are well fed, 
but aired by night only. The frequent kidna^jping from 
outlying hamlets explains the stockades we saw around 
them : the parents have no redress, for even Shinte himself, 
seems fond of working in the dark. One night he sent for 
me, though I always stated I liked all my dealings to be 
aboveboard. When I came, he presented me with a slave- 
girl about ten years old : he said he had always been in the 
habit of presenting his visitors with a child. On my 
thanking him, and saying that I thought it wrong to take 
away children from their parents, that I wished him to 
give up this system altogether and trade in cattle, ivory, 
and bees' -wax, he urged that she was ^Ho be a child" to 
bring me water, and that a great man ought to have a 



MAGIC LANTERN. 177 

child for the purpose, yet I had none. As I replied that 1 
had four children, and should be very sorry if my chief wero 
to take my little girl and give her away, and that I would 
prefer this child to remain and carry water for her own 
mother, he thought I was dissatisfied with her size, and 
sent for one a head taller. After many explanations of our 
abhorrence of slavery, and how displeasing it must be to 
God to see his children selling one another and giving each 
other so much grief as this child's mother must feel, I 
declined her also. If I could have taken her into my family 
for the purpose of instruction, and then returned her as a 
free woman, according to a promise I should have made to 
the parents, I might have done so; but to take her away, 
and probably never be able to secure her return, would have 
produced no good effect on the minds of the Balonda ; they 
would not then have seen evidence of our hatred to slavery, 
and the kind attentions of my friends would, as it almost 
always does in similar cases, have turned the poor thing's 
head. 

Shinte was most anxious to see the pictures of the magic 
lantern ; but fever had so weakening an effect, and I had 
such violent action of the heart, with buzzing in the ears, 
that I could not go for several days; when I did go for the 
purpose he had his principal men and the same crowd of 
court beauties near him as at the reception. The first 
picture exhibited was Abraham about to slaughter his son 
Isaac : it was shown as large as life, and the uplifted knife 
was in the act of striking the lad; the Balonda men re- 
marked that the picture was much more like a god than 
\he things of wood and clay they worshipped. I explained 
Ihat this man was the first of a race to whom God had 
given the Bible we now held, and that among his children 
our Savior appeared. The ladies listened with silent awe ; 
but, when I moved the slide, the uplifted dagger moving 
toward them, they thought it was to be sheathed in their 
bodies instead of Isaac's. ^' Mother ! mother !" all shouted 
at once, and off they rushed, helter-skelter, tumbling pell- 
M 



178 DELAY — HEAVY RAINS. 

in ell over each other, and over the little idol-huts and 
tobacco-bushes ; we could not get one of them back again. 
Sliinte, however, sat bravely through the whole, and after- 
ward examined the instrument with interest. An explana- 
tion was always added after each time of showing itp» 
powers, so that no one should imagine there was aught 
supernatural in it; and had Mr. Murray, who kindly brought 
it from England, seen its popularity among both Makololo 
and Balonda, he would have been gratified with the direc- 
tion his generosity then took. It was the only mode of 
instruction I was ever pressed to repeat. The people came 
long distances for the express purpose of seeing the objects 
and hearing the explanations. 

One cannot get away quickly from these chiefs; they 
like to have the honor of strangers residing in their vil- 
lages. Here we had an additional cause of delay in fre- 
quent rains: twenty -four hours never elapsed without 
heavy showers ; every thing is affected by the dampness ; 
surgical instruments become all rusty, clothing mildewed, 
and shoes mouldy; my little tent was now so rotten and so 
full of small holes that every smart shower caused a fine 
mist to descend on my blanket, and made me fain to cover 
the head with it. Heavy dews lay on every thing in the 
morning, even inside the tent; there is only a short time 
of sunshine in the afternoon, and even that is so interrupted 
by thunder-showers that we cannot dry our bedding. 

The winds coming from the north always bring heavy 
clouds and rain; in the south, the only heavy rains noticed 
are those which come from the northeast or east. The 
thermometer falls as low as 72° when there is no sunshine, 
though, when the weather is fair, the protected thermo- 
meter generally rises as high as 82°, even in the mornings 
and evenings. 

24f/i. — We expected to have started to-day ; but Sambanza, 
who had been sent off early in the morning for guides, re- 
turned at mid-day without them, and drunk. As far as we 
could collect from his incoherent sentences, Shinte had said 



FAREWELL TO SHINTE. 179 

the rain was too heavy for our departure^ and the guides 
still required time for preparation. Shinte himself was 
busy getting some meal ready for my use in the journey. 
As it rained nearly all day, it was no sacrifice to submit to 
his advice and remain. Sambanza staggered to Manenko's 
hut: she^ however, who had never promised "to love, 
honor, and obey him," had not been "nursing her wrath 
to keep it warm;" so she coolly bundled him into the hut, 
and put him to bed. 

As the last proof of friendship, Shinte came into my tent, 
though it could scarcely contain more than one person, 
looked at all the curiosities, the quicksilver, the looking- 
glass, books, hair-brusheS; comb, watch, &c. &c., with the 
greatest interest; then, closing the tent, so that none of his 
own people might see the extravagance of which he was 
about to be guilty, he drew out from his clothing a string 
of beads and the end of a conical shell, which is consi- 
dered, in regions far from the sea, of as great value as the 
Lord Mayor's badge is in London. He hung it round my 
neck, and said, " There, now you have a proof of my friend- 
ship.'' 

My men informed me that these shells are so highly 
Talued in this quarter, as evidences of distinction, that for 
two of them a slave might be bought, and five would be 
considered a handsome price for an elephant's tusk worth 
ten pounds. At our last interview old Shinte pointed out 
our principal guide, Intemese, a man about fifty, who was, 
he said, ordered to remain by us till we should reach the 
sea; that I had now left Sekeletu far behind, and must 
henceforth look to Shinte alone for aid, and that it would 
always be most cheerfully rendered. This was only a 
polite way of expressing his wishes for my success. It was 
the good words only of the guides which were to aid mo 
from the next chief, Katema, on to the sea; they were to 
turn back on reaching him ; but he gave a good supply of 
food for the journey before us, and, after mentioning as a 
reason for letting us go even now that no one could say 



180 MANIOC-GARDENS. 

that we had been driven away from the town, since we had 
been several days with him, he gave a most hearty saluta- 
tion, and we parted with the wish that God might bless 
liim. 



CHAPTEE XYII. 



DR. LIVINGSTONE PASSES THROUGH LONDA AND VISITS 

KATEMA. 

2Qth. — Leaving Shinte, with eight of his men to aid in 
carrying our luggage, we passed, in a northerly direction, 
down the lovely valley on which the town stands, then 
went a little to the west through pretty open forest, and 
Blept at a village of Balonda. In the morning we had a 
fine range of green hills, called Saloisho, on our right, and 
were informed that they were rather thickly inhabited 
>)y the people of Shinte, who worked in iron, the ore of 
Tvhich abounds in these hills. 

The country through which we passed possessed the same 
general character of flatness and forest that we noticed 
before The soil is dark w^ith a tinge of red — in some 
places it might be called red — and appeared very fertile. 
Every valley contained villages of twenty or thirty huts, 
with gardens of manioc, which here is looked upon as the 
fitaff of life. Yery little labor is required for its cultiva- 
tion. The earth is drawn np into oblong beds, about three 
feet broad and one in height, and in these are planted 
pieces of the manioc-stalk, at four feet apart A crop of 
beans or groundnuts is sown between them, and when 
these are reaped the land around the manioc is cleared of 
weeds. In from ten to eighteen months after planting, ac- 
cording to the quality of the soil, the roots are fit for food. 
There is no necessity for reaping soon, as the roots do not 
become bitter and dry until after three years. When a 



VILLAGES BEYOND THE LONAJE. 181 

woman takes up the roots, she thrusts a piece or two of 
the upper stalks into the hole she has made, draws back 
the soil, and a new crop is thereby begun. The plant grows 
to a height of six feet, and every part of it is useful ; the 
leaves may be cooked as a vegetable. The roots are from 
three to four inches in diameter, and from twelve to 
eighteen inches long. 

There are two varieties of the manioc or cassava, — one 
sweet and wholesome, the other bitter and containing 
poison, but much more speedy in its growth than the 
former. This last property causes its perpetuation. 

Our chief guide, Intemese, sent orders to all the villages 
around our route that Shinte's friends must have abundance 
of provisions. Our progress was impeded by thb time re- 
quisite for communicating the chiefs desire and consequent 
preparation of meal. We received far more food from 
Shinte's people than from himself. Kapende, for instance, 
presented two large baskets of meal, three of manioc-roots 
steeped and dried in the sun and ready to be converted 
into flour, three fowls, and seven eggs, with three smoke- 
dried fishes ; and others gave with similar liberality. I 
gave to the head-men small bunches of my stock of beads, 
with an apology that we were now on our way to tne 
mark et for these goods. The present was always politely 
recei^^ed. 

Aft^tr crossing the Lonaje, we came to some pretty vil- 
lages, embowered, as the negro villages usually are, in 
bananas, shrubs, and manioc, and near the banks of the 
Leeb^. we formed our encampment in a nest of serpents, 
one nf which bit one of our men; but the wound was 
harn?<«ess. The people of the surrounding villages pre- 
senti'xi us with large quantities of food, in obedience to 
the 7Qandate of Shinte, without expecting any equivalent 
On^ village had lately been transferred hither from the 
COUP try of Matiamvo. They, of course, continue to ac- 
knowledge him as paramount chief; but the frequent in- 
stances which occur of people changing from one part of 

16 



182 CROSSING THE LEEBA. 

the country to another show that the great chiefs possess 
only a limited power. The only peculiarity we observed in 
these people is the habit of plaiting the beard into a three- 
fold cord. 

The town of the Balonda chief Cazembe was pointed 
out to us as lying to the N.E. and by E. from the town of 
Shinte, and great numbers of people in this quarter have 
gone thither for the purpose of purchasing copper anklets, 
made at Cazembe' s, and report the distance to be about five 
days' journey. 

It took us about four hours to cross the Leeba, which is 
considerably smaller here than where we left it, — indeed, 
only about a hundred yards wide. It has the same dark 
mossy hue. The villagers lent us canoes to effect our pass- 
age; and, having gone to a village about two miles beyond 
the river, I had the satisfaction of getting observations for 
both longitude and latitude, — for the former, the distance 
between Saturn and the moon, and for the latter, a meridian 
altitude of Canopus. Long. 22° 57' E., lat. 12° 6' 6" S. 

Here we were surprised to hear English cotton cloth 
much more eagerly inquired after than beads and orna- 
ments. They are more in need of clothing than the Be- 
chuana tribes living adjacent to the Kalahari Desert, who 
have plenty of skins for the purpose. Animals of all kinds 
are rare here, and a very small piece of calico is of great 
value. 

As the people on the banks of the Leeba were the last 
of Shinte's tribe over which Intemese had power, he was 
naturally anxious to remain as long as possible. He was 
not idle, but made a large wooden mortar and pestle for 
his wife during our journey. He also carved many wooden 
spoons and a bowl; then commenced a basket; but, as 
what he considered good living was any thing but agreeable 
to us, who had been accustomed to milk and maize, we went 
forward on the 2d without him. He soon followed, but left 
our pontoon, saying it would be brought by the head-man 
of the village. This was a great loss, as we afterward 



PLAINS COVERED WITH WATER. 183 

found : it remained at this village more than a year, and, 
when we returned, a mouse had eaten a hole in it. 

We entered on an extensive plain beyond the Leeba, at 
least twenty miles broad, and covered with water ankle 
deep in the shallowest parts. We deviated somewhat from 
our N. W. course, by the direction of Intemese, and kept 
the hills Piri nearly on our right during a great part of 
the first day, in order to avoid the still more deeply-flooded 
plains of Lobale (Luval?) on the west. These, according 
to Intemese, are at present impassable on account of being 
thigh deep. The plains are so perfectly level that rain- 
water, which this was, stands upon them for months together 
They were not flooded by the Leeba, for that was still far 
within its banks. Here and there, dotted over the surface, 
are little islands, on which grow stunted date-bushes and 
scraggy trees. 

We made our beds on one of the islands, and were 
wretchedly supplied with firewood. The booths constructed 
by the men were but sorry shelter, for the rain poured 
down without intermission till mid-day. There is no drain- 
age for the prodigious masses of water on these plains, ex- 
cept slow percolation into the different feeders of the Leeba 
and into that river itself. The quantity of vegetation has 
prevented the country from becoming furrowed by many 
rivulets or ^^ nullahs.'^ Were it not so remarkably flat, the 
drainage must have been effected by torrents, even in spite 
of the matted vegetation. 

When released from our island by the rain ceasing, wo 
marched on till we came to a ridge of dry inhabited land 
in the JST.W. The inhabitants, according to custom, lent 
us the roofs of some huts to save the men the trouble of 
booth-making. I suspect that the story in Park's " Travels," 
of the men lifting up the hut to place it on the lion, referred 
to the roof only. We leave them for the villagers to replace 
at their leisure. No payment is expected for the use of 
them. By night it rained so copiously that all our beds 
were flooded from below; and from this time forth we 



184 A HALT. 

always made a furrow round each booth, and used the earth 
to raise our sleeping-places. My men turned out to work 
in the wet most willingly: indeed, they always did. I 
could not but contrast their conduct with that of Intemese. 
He was thoroughly imbued with the slave-spirit, and lied 
on all occasions without compunction. Untruthfulness is 
a sort of refuge for the weak and oppressed. We expected 
to move on the 4th, but he declared that we were so near 
Katema's, if we did not send forward to apprize that chief 
of our approach, he would certainly impose a fine. It 
rained the whole day, so we were reconciled to the delay; 
but on Sunday, the 5th, he let us know that we were still 
two days distant from Katema. We unfortunately could 
not manage without him, for the country was so deluged 
we should have been brought to a halt, before we went 
many miles, by some deep valley, every one of which was 
full of water. Intemese continued to plait his basket with 
all his might, and would not come to our religious service. 
He seemed to be afraid of our incantations, but was always 
merry and jocular. 

6th. — Soon after starting, we crossed a branch of the Loka- 
lueje by means of a canoe, and in the afternoon passed over 
the main stream by a like conveyance. The former, as is 
the case with all branches of rivers in this country, is 
called nuana Kalueje, (child of the Kaluejo.) Hippopotami 
exist in the Lokalueje, so it may be inferred to be peren- 
nial, as the inhabitants asserted. We cannot judge of the 
size of the stream from what we now saw. It had about 
forty yards of deep, fast-flowing water, but probably not 
more than half that amount in the dry season. Besides 
these, we crossed numerous feeders in our N.N.W. course, 
and, there being no canoes, got frequently wet in the course 
of the day. The oxen in some places had their heads only 
above water, and the stream, flowing over their backs, 
wetted our blankets, which we used as saddles. The arm- 
pit was the only safe spot for carrying the watch, for there 
it was preserved from rains above and waters below. 1! 



OMNIVOROUS FISH. 185 

men on foot crossed these gullies holding up their burdens 
at arms' length. 

Great numbers of the omnivorous-feeding fish Glanis 
siluris, or mosala, spread themselves over the flooded plains, 
and, as the waters retire, try to find their way back again 
to the rivers. The Balonda make earthen dikes and 
hedges across the outlets of the retreating waters, leaving 
only small spaces through which the chief part of the 
water flows. In these open spaces they plant creels, simi- 
lar in shape to our own, into which the fish can enter but 
cannot return. They secure large quantities of fish in 
this way, which, when smoke-dried, make a good relish for 
their otherwise-insipid food. They use also a weir of mats 
made of reeds sewed together, with but half an inch be- 
tween each. Open spaces are left for the insertion of tho 
creels as before. 

In still water, a fish-trap is employed of the same shape 
and plan as the common round wire mouse-trap, which has 
an opening surrounded with wires pointing inward. This 
is made of reeds and supple wands, and food is placed 
inside to attract the fish. 

Besides these means of catching fish, they use a hook of 
iron without a barb; the point is bent inward instead, so 
as not to allow the fish to escape. Nets are not so common 
as in the Zouga and Leeambye ; but they kill large quan- 
tities of fishes by means of the bruised leaves of a shrub 
which may be seen planted beside every village in the 
country. 

On the 7th we came to the village of Soana Molopo, 
a half-brother of Katema, a few miles beyond the Loka- 
lueje. When we went to visit him, we found him sitting 
with about one hundred men. He called on Intemese to 
give some account of us, though no doubt it had been done 
in private before. He then pronounced the following sen- 
tences : — " The journey of the white man is very proper ; 
but Shinte has disturbed us by showing the path to tho 
Makololo who accompany him. Ho ought to have taken 

16* 



186 OUR guide's perversity. 

tLem through the country without showing them the 
towns. We are afraid of the Makololo.'' He then gave 
us a handsome present of food, and seemed perplexed by 
my sitting down familiarly and giving him a few of our 
ideas When we left, Intemese continued busily impart- 
ing an account of all we had given to Shinte and Masiko, 
and instilling the hope that Soana Molopo might obtain as 
much as they had received. Accordingly, when we ex- 
pected to move on the morning of the 8 th, we got some 
hints about the ox which Soana Molopo expected to eat ; 
but we recommended him to get the breed of cattle for 
himself, seeing his country was so veil adapted for rearing 
stock, Intemese also refused to move : he, moreover, 
tried to frighten us into parting with an ox by saying 
that Soana Molopo would send fo; *vard a message that we 
were a marauding-party; but we packed up and went on 
without him. We did not absolutely need him ; but he 
was useful in preventing the inhabitants of secluded vil- 
lages from betaking themselves to flight. We wished to 
be on good terms with all, and therefore put up with our 
guide's peccadilloes. His good word respecting us had 
considerable influence, and he was always asked if we had 
behaved ourselves like men on the way. The Makololo 
are viewed as great savages; but Intemese could not 
justly look with scorn on them, for he has the mark of a 
large gash on his arm, got in fighting ; and he would never 
tell the cause of battle, but boasted of his powers, as the 
Makololo do, till asked about a scar on his back, betoken- 
ing any thing but bravery. 

Intemese was useful in cases like that of Monday, when 
we came upon a whole village in a forest enjoying their 
noonday nap. Our sudden appearance in their midst so 
terrified them that one woman nearly went into con- 
vulsions from fear. When they saw and heard Intemese, 
their terror subsided. 

As usual, we were caught by rains after leaving Soana 
Molopo's, and made our booths at the house of Mozinkwa, 



MOZINKWA AND HIS FAMILY. 187 

a most intelligent and friendly man belonging to Katema. 
He had a fine large garden in cultivation, and well hedged 
round. He had made the walls of his compound, or court- 
yard, of branches of the banian, which, taking root, had 
grown to be a live hedge of that tree. Mozinkwa's wifo 
had cotton growing all round her premises, and several 
plants used as relishes to the insipid porridge of tho 
country. She cultivated also the common castor-oil plant, 
and a larger shrub (Jatropha curcas) which also yields a 
purgative oil. Here, however, the oil is used for anointing 
tho heads and bodies alone. We saw in her garden like- 
witie the Indian bringalls, yams, and sweet potatoes. 
Several trees were planted in the middle of the yard, and 
in the deep shade they gave stood the huts of his fine 
family. His children, all by one mother, very black, but 
comely to view, were the finest negro family I ever saw. 
W e were much pleased with the frank friendship and 
lil>erality of this man and his wife. She asked me to bring 
her a cloth from the white man's country; but, when we 
returned, poor Mozinkwa's wife was in her grave, and he, 
as is the custom, had abandoned trees, garden, and huts to 
ruin. They cannot live on a spot where a favorite wife 
has died, probably because unable to bear the remem- 
brance of the happy times they have spent there, or afraid 
to remain in a spot where death has once visited the esta- 
blishment. If ever the place is revisited, it is to pray to 
her or make some offering. This feeling renders any per- 
manent village in the country impossible. 

We learned from Mozinkwa that Soana Molopo was the 
elder brother of Katema, but that he was wanting in wis- 
dom ; and Katema, by purchasing cattle and receiving in 
a kind manner all the fugitives who came to him, had 
secured the birthright to himself, so far as influence in the 
country is concerned. Soana' s first address to us did not 
savor much of African wisdom. 

Friday, 10th. — On leaving Mozinkwa's hospitable mansion, 
we crossed another stream, about forty yards wide, in 



188 quendende's politeness. 

ianoes. While this tedious process was going on, I was in- 
formed that it is called the Mona-Kalueje, or brother of 
Kalueje, as it flows into that river; that both the Kalueje 
and Livoa flow into the Leebe ; and that the Chifumadze, 
swollen by the Lotembwa, is a feeder of that river also, 
below the point where we lately crossed it. 

As we were crossing the river, we were joined by a mes- 
senger from Katema, called Shakatwala. This person was 
a sort of steward or factotum to his chief Every chief has 
one attached to his person, and, though generally poor, 
they are invariably men of great shrewdness and ability. 
They act the part of messengers on all important occasions, 
and possess considerable authority in the chief's house- 
hold. Shakatwala informed us that Katema had not re- 
ceived precise information about us, but if we were peaceably 
disposed, as he loved strangers, we were to come to his 
town. We proceeded forthwith, but were turned aside, by 
the strategy of our friend Intemese, to the village of 
Quendende, the father-in-law of Katema. This fine old 
man was so very polite that we did not regret being obliged 
to spend Sunday at his village. He expressed his pleasure 
at having a share in the honor of a visit as well as Katema, 
though it seemed to me that the conferring that pleasure 
required something like a pretty good stock of impudence, 
in leading twenty-seven men through the country without 
the means of purchasing food. My men did a little busi- 
ness for themselves in the begging line : they generally 
commenced every interview with new villagers by saying, 
<'l have come from afar; give me something to eat." I 
ibrbade this at first, believing that, as the Makololo had a 
bad name, the villagers gave food from fear. But, after 
some time, it was evident that in many cases maize and 
manioc were given from pure generosity. The first time I 
came to this conclusion was at the house of Mozinkwa : 
scarcely any one of my men returned from it without 
something in his hand ; and as they protested they had not 



CROP OP WOOL. 189 

begged, I asked himself, and found that it was the case, 
and that he had given spontaneously. 

Quendende's head was a good specimen of the greater 
crop of wool with which the negroes of Londa are fur- 
nished. The front was parted in the middle, and plaited 
into two thick rolls, which, falling down behind the ears, 
reached the shoulders : the rest was collected into a largo 
knot, which lay on the nape of the neck. As he was an 
intelligent man, we had much conversation together; he 
had just come from attending the funeral of one of his 
people, and I found that the great amount of drum-beating 
which takes place on these occasions was with the idea 
that the Barimo, or spirits, could be drummed to sleep. 
There is a drum in every village, and we often hear it going 
from sunset to sunrise. They seem to look upon the de- 
parted as vindictive beings, and, I suspect, are more in- 
fluenced by fear than by love. In beginning to speak on 
religious subjects with those who have never heard of Chris- 
tianity, the great fact of the Son of God having come down 
from heaven to die for us is the prominent theme. No fact 
more striking can be mentioned. " He actually came to 
men. He himself told us about his Father and the dwell- 
ing-place whither he has gone. We have his words in this 
book, and he really endured punishment in our stead from 
pure love,'' &c. If this fails to interest them, nothing else 
will succeed. 

"We here met with some people just arrived from the 
town of Matiamvo, (Muata yanvo,) who had been sent to 
announce the death of the late chieftain of that name. 
Matiamvo is the hereditary title, muata meaning lord or 
chief The late Matiamvo seems, from the report of theso 
men, to have become insane, for he is said to have some- 
times indulged the whim of running a muck in the town 
and beheading whomsoever he met, until he had quite a 
heap of human heads. Matiamvo explained this conduct 
by saying that his people were too many, and he wanted 
to diminish them. He had absolute power of life and death. 



190 MATIAMVO*S CONDUCT. 

On inquiring whether human sacrifices were still made, a8 
in the time of Pereira, at Cazembe's, we were informed 
that these had never been so common as was represented 
to Pereira, but that it occasionally happened, when certain 
charms were needed by the chief, that a man was slaugh- 
tered for the sake of some part of his body. He added 
that ho hoped the present chief would not act like his 
(mad) predecessor, but kill only those who were guilty of 
witchcraft or theft. These men were very much astonished 
at the liberty enjoyed by the Makololo; and, when they 
found that all my people had cattle^ we were told that 
Matiamvo alone had a herd. One very intelligent man 
among them asked, " If he should make a canoe, and tako 
it down the river to the Makololo, would he get a cow for 
it V This question, which my men answered in the affirma- 
tive, was important, as showing the knowledge of water- 
communication from the country of Matiamvo to the 
Makololo; and the river runs through a fertile country 
abounding in large timber. If the tribes have intercourse 
with each other, it exerts a good influence on their chiefs 
to hear what other tribes think of their deeds. The Ma- 
kololo have such a bad name, on account of their perpetual 
forays, that they have not been known in Londa except as 
ruthless destroyers. The people in Matiamvo's country 
submit to much wrong from their chiefs, and no voice can 
be raised against cruelty, because they are afraid to flee 
elsewhere. 

We left Quendende's village in company with Quendendo 
himself, and the principal man of the ambassadors of Ma- 
tiamvo, and, after two or three miles' march to the N.W., 
came to the ford of the Lotembwa, which flows southward. 
A canoe was waiting to ferry us over, but it was very 
tedious work ; for, though the river itself was only eighty 
yards wide, the whole valley was flooded, and we were 
obliged to paddle more than half a mile to get free of the 
water. A fire was lit to warm old Quendende and enable 
him to dry his tobacco-leaves. The leaves are taken from 



SUPERSTITIOUS CUSTOMS. 191 

the plant and spread close to the fire until they arc quite 
dry and crisp; they are then put into a snuff-box, which, 
with a little pestle, serves the purpose of a mill to grind 
them into powder: it is then used as snuff. As we sat by 
the file, the ambassadors communicated their thoughts 
freely respecting the customs of their race. When a chiet 
dies, a number of servants are slaughtered with him to 
form his company in the other world. The Barotse followed 
the same custom ; and this and other usages show them to 
be genuine negroes, though neither they nor the Balonda 
resemble closely the typical form of that people. Quen- 
dende said if he were present on these occasions he would 
hide his people, so that they might not be slaughtered. 
As we go north, the people become more bloodily super- 
stitious. 

We were assured that if the late Matiamvo took a fancy 
to any thing, — such, for instance, as my watch-chain, which 
was of silver wire, and was a great curiosity, as they had 
never seen metal plaited before, — he would order a whole 
village to be brought up to buy it from a stranger. When 
a slave-trader visited him, he took possession of all his 
goods; then, after ten days or a fortnight, he would send 
out a party of men to pounce upon some considerable 
village, and, having killed the head-men, would pay for all 
the goods by selling the inhabitants. This has frequently 
been the case, and nearly all the visitants he ever had were 
men of color. On asking if Matiamvo did not know ho 
was a man, and would be judged, in company with those 
he destroyed, by a Lord who is no respecter of persons, 
the ambassador replied, ^'^VG do not go up to God, as j^ou 
do : we are put into the ground." I could not ascertain 
that even those who have such a distinct perception of the 
continued existence of departed spirits had any notion of 
iieaven : they appear to imagine the souls to be always 
near the place of sepulture. 

After crossing the river Lotembwa, we travelled about 
eight miles, and came to Katcma's straggling town, (lat 



192 PRESENTATION TO KATEMA. 

11° 35' 49" S., long. 22° 27' E.) It is more a collection oi 
^iIlagcs than a town. We were led out about half a 
mile from the houses, that we might make for ourselves 
the best lodging we could of the trees and grass, while 
Xntemese was taken to Katema to undergo the usual pro- 
cess of pumping as to our past conduct and professions. 
Katema soon afterward sent a handsome present of food. 

Next morning we had a formal presentation, and found 
Katema seated on a sort of throne, with about three hun- 
dred men on the ground around, and thirty women, who 
were said to be his wives, close behind him. The main 
body of the people were seated in a semicircle, at a dis- 
tance of fifty yards. Each party had its own head-man 
stationed at a little distance in front, and, when beckoned 
by the chief, came near him as councillors. Xntemese gave 
our history, and Katema placed sixteen large baskets of 
meal before us, half a dozen fowls, and a dozen eggs, and 
expressed regret that we had slept hungry: he did not like 
any stranger to suffer want in his town; and added, "Go 
home and cook and eat, and you will then be in a fit state 
to speak to me at an audience I will give you to-morrow." 
He was busily engaged in hearing the statements of a largo 
body of fine young men who had fled from Kangenke, 
chief of Lobale, on account of his selling their relatives to 
the native Portuguese who frequent liis country. Katema 
is a tall man, about forty years of age, and his head was 
ornamented with a helmet of beads and feathers. He had 
on a snuff-brown coat, with a broad band of tinsel down 
the arms, and carried in his hand a largo tail made of the 
caudal extremities of a number of gnus. This has charms 
attached to it, and he continued waving it in front of him- 
self all the time we were there. He seemed in good spirits, 
laughing heartily several times. This is a good sign, for a 
man who shakes his sides with mirth is seldom difficult to 
deal with. When we rose to take leave, all rose with us, 
as at Shinte's. 

Returning next morning, Katema addressed me thus : — • 



INTERVIEW WITH KATEMA. 193 

"I am the great Moeno (lord) Katema, the fellow of Ma- 
tiamvo. There is no one in the country equal to Matiamvo 
and me. I have always lived here, and my forefathers too. 
There is the house in which my father lived. You found 
no human skulls near the place where you are encamped. 
I never killed any of the traders : they all come to me. I 
am the great Moene Katema, of whom you have heard." 
He looked as if he had fallen asleep tipsy and dreamed 
of his greatness. On explaining my objects to him, he 
promptly pointed out three men who would be our guides, 
and explained that the northwest path was the most 
direct, and that by which all traders came, but that the 
water at present standing on the plains would reach up to 
the loins : he would therefore send us by a more northerly 
route, which no trader had yet traversed. This was more 
suited to our wishes, for we never found a path safe that 
had been trodden by slave-traders. 

We presented a few articles which pleased him highly, — 
a small shawl, a razor, three bunches of beads, some but- 
tons, and a powder-horn. Apologizing for the insignifi- 
cance of the gift, I wished to know what I could bring 
him from Loanda, saying, not a large thing, but something 
small. He laughed heartily at the limitation, and replied, 
"Everything of the white people would be acceptable, and 
he would receive anything thankfully; but the coat he 
then had on was old, and he would like another." I intro- 
duced the subject of the Bible; but one of the old coun- 
cillors broke in, told all he had picked up from the Mam- 
bari, and glided off into several other subjects. It is a 
misery to speak through an interpreter, as I was now 
forced to do. With a body of men like mine, composed as 
they were of six different tribes, and all speaking the lan- 
guage of the Bechuanas, there was no difficulty in commu- 
cating on common subjects with any tribe we came to; but 
doling out a story in which they felt no interest, and 
which I understood only sufficiently well to perceive that 

a mere abridgment was given, was uncommonly slow 
N 17 



194 CATTLE — A FEAST. 

work. Keither could Katema's attention be arrested, 
except by compliments, of which they have always plenty 
to bestow as well as receive. We were strangers, and 
knew that, as Makololo, we had not the best of characters ; 
yet his treatment of us was wonderfully good and liberal. 

I complimented him on the possession of cattle, and 
pleased him by telling him how he might milk the cows. 
He has a herd of about thirty, really splendid animals, all 
reared from two which he brought from the Balobale when 
he was young. They are generally of a white color, and 
are quite wild, running off with graceful ease like a herd 
of elands on the approach of a stranger. They excited the 
unbounded admiration of the Makololo, and clearly proved 
that the countrj^ was well adapted for them. When Katema 
wishes to slaughter one, he is obliged to shoot it as if it 
were a buffalo. Matiamvo is said to possess a herd of cattle 
in a similar state. I never could feel certain as to the 
reason why they do not all possess cattle in a country con- 
taining such splendid pasturage. 

As Katema did not offer an ox, as would have been done 
by a Makololo or Caffre chief, we slaughtered one of our 
own, and all of us were delighted to get a meal of meat, 
after subsisting so long on the light porridge and green 
maize of Londa. On occasions of slaughtering an animal, 
some pieces of it are in the fire before the skin is all 
removed from the body. A frying-pan full of these pieces 
having been got quickly ready, my men crowded about 
their father, and I handed some all round. It was a 
stran^^e sight to the Balonda, who were looking on wonder- 
ing. I offered portions to them too, but these were declined, 
though they are excessively fond of a little animal food to 
eat with their vegetable diet. They would not eat with us, 
but they would take the meat and cook it in their own 
way, and then use it. I thought at one time that they had 
imported something from the Mohammedans, and the more 
especially as an exclamation of surprise, "Allah!'' sounds 
like the Illah of the Arabs; but we found, a little farthei 



NEW ATTACK OP FEVER. 197 

on, another form of salutation, of Christian (?) origin, " Ave- 
rie," (Ave Marie.) The salutations probably travel farther 
than the faith. My people, when satisfied with a meal like 
that which they enjoy so often at home, amused themselves 
by an uproarious dance. Katema sent to ask what I had 
given them to produce so much excitement. Intemese replied 
it was their custom, and they meant no harm. The com- 
panion of the ox we slaughtered refused food for two days, 
and went lowing about for him continually. He seemed 
inconsolable for his loss, and tried again and again to 
escape back to the Makololo country. My men remarked, 
'* He thinks, They will kill me as well as my friend.^' Katema 
thought it the result of art, and had fears of my skill in 
medicine, and, of course, witchcraft. He refused to see the 
magic lantern. 

On Sunday, the 19th, both I and several of our party 
were seized with fever, and I could do nothing but toss 
about in my little tent, with the thermometer about 90°, — 
though this was the beginning of winter, and my men 
made as much shade as possible by planting branches of 
trees all round and over it. We have, for the first time in 
ray experience in Africa, had a cold wind from the north. 
All the winds from that quarter are hot, and those from 
the south are cold; but they seldom blow from eithei 
direction. 

20th. — "We were glad to get away, though not on account 
of any scarcity of food; for my men, by giving small 
presents of meat as an earnest of their sincerity, formed 
many friendships with the people of Katema. We went 
about four or five miles in a N.N.W. direction, then two in 
a westerly one, and came round the small end of Lake 
Dilolo. It seemed, as far as we could at this time discern, 
to be like a river a quarter of a mile wide. 

Immediately beyond Dilolo there is a large flat about 
twenty miles in breadth. Here Shakatwala insisted on our 
remaining to get supplies of food from Katema's subjects 

before entering the uninhabited watery plains. 

17* 



198 SAGACITY OF ANTS. 

Heavy rains prevented us from crossing the plain in front 
(N.N.W.) in one day, and the constant wading among the 
grass hurt the feet of the men. There is a footpath all the 
way across, but, as this is worn down beneath the level of 
the rest of the plain, it is necessarily the deepest portion, 
and the men, avoiding it, make a new walk by its side. A 
path, however narrow, is a great convenience, as any one 
who has travelled on foot in Africa will admit. The virtual 
want of it here caused us to make slow and painful progress. 

Ants surely are wiser than some men, for they learn by 
experience. They have established themselves even on 
these plains, where water stands so long annually as to 
allow the lotus, and other aqueous plants, to come to matu- 
rity. When all the ant-horizon is submerged a foot deep 
they manage to exist by ascending to little houses built of 
black tenacious loam on stalks of grass and placed higher 
than the line of inundation. This must have been the re- 
sult of experience; for, if they had waited till the water 
actually invaded their terrestrial habitations, they would not 
have been able to procure materials for their aerial quarters 
unless they dived down to the bottom for every mouthful 
of clay. Some of these upper chambers are about the size 
of a bean, and others as large as a man's thumb. They 
must have built in anticipation; and, if so, let us humbly 
hope that the sufferers by the late inundations in France 
may be possessed of as much common sense as the little 
black ants of the Dilolo plains. 



DEEP VALLEY. 199 



CHAPTEE XYIII. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE ADVANCES TO THE NORTHWEST — VISITS 
KATENDE AND lONGA PANZA. 

24:th of February. — On reaching unflooded lands beyond 
the plain, we found the villages there acknowledged the 
authority of the chief named Katende, and we discovered, 
also, to our surprise, that the almost level plain we had 
passed forms the watershed between the southern and 
northern rivers, for we had now entered a district in 
which the rivers flowed in a northerly direction into the 
Kasai or Loke, near to which we now were, while the 
rivers we had hitherto crossed were all running southward. 
Having met with kind treatment and aid at the first vil- 
lage, Katema^s guides returned, and we were led to the 
'N.'N.'W. by the inhabitants, and descended into the very 
first really-deep valley we had seen since leaving Kolo- 
beng. A stream ran along the bottom of a slope of three 
or four hundred yards from the plains above. 

We crossed this by a rustic bridge at present submerged 
thigh deep by the rains. The trees growing along the 
stream of this lovely valley were thickly planted and very 
high. Many had sixty or eighty feet of clean straight 
trunk, and beautiful flowers adorned the ground beneath 
them. Ascending the opposite side, we came, in two 
hours' time, to another valley, equally beautiful, and with 
a stream also in its centre. 

Eeaching the village of Kabinje, in the evening he sent 
us a present of tobacco, Mutokuane or " bang," (Cannabis 
sativa,) and maize, by the man who went forward to an- 
nounce our arrival, and a message expressing satisfaction 
at the prospect of having trade with the coast. The 
westing we were making brought us among people 
who are frequently visited by the Mambari as slave-dealers. 



200 DEMAND FOR GUNPOWDER AND CALICO. 

This trade causes bloodshed; for when a poor family is 
selected as the victims it is necessary to get rid of the 
older members of it, because they are supposed to be able 
to give annoyance to the chief afterward by means of 
enchantments. The belief in the power of charms for 
good or evil produces not only honesty, but a great amount 
of gentle dealing. The powerful are often restrained in 
their despotism from a fear that the weak and helplesa 
may injure them by their medical knowledge. 

When we wished to move on, Kabinje refused a guide to 
the next village, because he was at war with it ; but, after 
much persuasion, he consented, provided that the guide 
should be allowed to return as soon as he came in sight 
of the enemy's village. This we felt to be a misfortune, 
as the people all suspect a man who comes telling his own 
tale ; but, there being no help for it, we went on, and found 
the head-man of a village on the rivulet Kalomba, called 
Kangenke, a very different man from what his enemy 
represented. We found, too, that the idea of buying and 
selling took the place of giving for friendship. As I had 
nothing with which to purchase food except a parcel of 
beads, which were preserved for worse times, I began to fear 
that we should soon be compelled to suffer more fi^om 
hunger than we had done. The people demanded gun- 
powder for every thing. If we had possessed any quan- 
tity of that article, we should have got on well, for here 
it is of great value. On our return, near this spot we 
found a good-sized fowl was sold for a single charge of 
gunpowder, j^ext to that, English calico was in great 
demand, and so were beads ; but money was of no value 
whatever. Gold is quite unknown; it is thought to be 
brass : trade is carried on by barter alone. The people 
know nothing of money. A purse-proud person would 
here feel the ground move from beneath his feet. Occasion- 
ally a large piece of copper, in the shape of a St. Andrew's 
cross, is offered for sale. 

February 27. — Kangenke promptly furnished guides 




a 



8 
o 



^ 



^ 



VEXATIOUS TRICK. 203 

this morning, so we went briskly on a short distance, and 
came to a part of the Kasye, Kasai, or Loke, where he 
had appointed two canoes to convey us across. This is a 
most beautiful river, and very much like the Clyde in Scot- 
land. The slope of the valley down to the stream is about 
five hundred yards, and finely wooded. It is perhaps 
one hundred yards broad, and was winding slowly from 
side to side in the beautiful green glen, in a course to the 
north and northeast. In both the directions from which 
it came and to which it went it seemed to be alternately 
embowered in sylvan vegetation or rich meadows covered 
with tall grass. The men pointed out its course, and said, 
*^ Though you sail along it for months, you will turn with- 
out seeing the end of it." 

While at the ford of the Kasai we were subjected to a 
trick, of which we had been forewarned by the people of 
Shinte. A knife had been dropped by one of Kangenke'ft 
people, in order to entrap my men ; it was put down near 
our encampment, as if lost, the owner in the mean time 
watching till one of my men picked it up. Nothing was 
said until our party was divided, one half on this and the 
other on that bank of the river. Then the charge was 
made to me that one of my men had stolen a knife. 
Certain of my people's honesty, I desired the man, who 
was making a great noise, to search the luggage for it; 
the unlucky lad who had taken the bait then came forward 
and confessed that he had the knife in a basket which was 
already taken over the river. When it was returned, the 
owner would not receive it back unless accompanied with 
a fine. The lad offered beads, but these were refused with 
scorn. A shell hanging round his neck, similar to that 
which Shinte had given me, was the object demanded, and 
the victim of the trick, as we all knew it to be, was obliged 
to part with his costly ornament. I could not save him 
from the loss, as all had been forewarned; and it is the 
universal custom among the Makololo and many other 
tribes to show whatever they may find to the chief person 



204 WANT OF FOOD. 

of their company, and make a sort of offer of it to him. 
This lad ought to have done so to me : the rest of the 
party always observed this custom. I felt annoyed at the 
imposition, but the order we invariably followed in cross- 
ing a river forced me to submit. The head of the party 
remained to be ferried over last ; so, if I had not come to 
terms, I would have been, as I always was in crossing 
rivers which we could not swim, completely in the power 
of the enemy. It was but rarely we could get a head-man 
so witless as to cross a river with us and remain on the 
opposite bank in a convenient position to be seized as a 
hostage in case of my being caught. 

This trick is but one of a number equally dishonorable 
which are practised by tribes that lie adjacent to the more 
civilized settlements. The Balonda farther east told us, 
by way of warning, that many parties of the more central 
tribes had at various periods set out, in order to trade with 
the white men themselves, instead of through the Mambari, 
but had always been obliged to return without reaching 
their destination, in consequence of so many pretexts being 
invented by the tribes encountered in the way for fining 
them of their ivory. 

This ford was in 11° 15' 47" S. latitude, but the weather was 
so excessively cloudy we got no observation for longitude. 

We were now in want of food; for, to the great surprise 
of my companions, the people of Kangenke gave nothing 
except by way of sale, and charged the most exorbitant 
prices for the little meal and manioc they brought. The 
only article of barter my men had was a little fat saved 
from the ox we slaughtered at Katema's; so I was obliged 
to give them a portion of the stock of beads. One day 
(29th) of westing brought us from the Kasai to near the 
village of Katende, and we saw that we were in a land 
where no hope could be entertained of getting supplies of 
animal food, for one of our guides caught a light-blue- 
colored mole and two mice for his supper. The care with 
which he wrapped them up in a leaf and slung them on 



A GRAVE OFFENCE. 205 

hic3 Spear told that we could not hope to enjoy any larger 
game. We saw no evidence of any animals besides 3 and, 
on coming to the villages beyond this, we often saw boys 
and girls engaged in digging up these tiny quadrupeds. 

Katende sent for me on the day following our arrival, 
and, being quite willing to visit him, I walked, for this 
purpose, about three miles from our encampment. When we 
approached the village we were desired to enter a hut, and, as 
it was raining at the time, we did so. After a long time spent 
in giving and receiving messages from the great man, we were 
told that he wanted either a man, a tusk, beads, copper rings, 
or a shell, as paj^ment for leave to pass through his country. 
No one, we were assured, was allowed that liberty, or even 
to behold him, without something of the sort being pre- 
sented. Having humbly explained our circumstances, and 
that he could not expect to "catch an humble cow by the 
horns," — a proverb similar to ours that "you can't draw 
milk out of a stone," — we were told to go home, and he 
would speak again to us next day. 1 could not avoid a 
hearty laugh at the cool impudence of the savage, and 
made the best of my way home in the still pouring rain. 
My men were rather nettled at this want of hospitality ; 
but, after talking over the matter with one of Katende's 
servants, he proposed that some small article should be 
given, and an attempt made to please Katende. I turned 
out my shirts, and selected the worst one as a sop for him, 
and invited Katende to come and choose any thing else I 
had, but added that, when I should reach my own chief 
naked, and was asked what I had done with my clothes, I 
should be obliged to confess that I had left them with 
Katende. The shirt was despatched to him, and some of 
my people went along with the servant : they soon returned, 
saying that the shirt had been accepted, and guides and 
food too would be sent to us next day. The chief had, 
moreover, expressed a hope to see me on my return. lie 
is reported to be very corpulent. The traders who have 
come here seem to have beer ^ery timid, yielding to every 

18 



206 A NATIVE TOLL-KEEPER. 

demand made on the most frivolous pretences. One of my 
men, seeing another much like an acquaintance at home, 
addressed him by the name of the latter in sport, telling 
him, at the same time, why he did so; this was pronounced 
to be a grave offence, and a large fine demanded : when the 
case came before me I could see no harm in what had been 
done, and told my people not to answer the young fellow. 
The latter felt himself disarmed, for it is chiefly in a brawl 
they have power ; then words are spoken in anger which 
rouse the passions of the complainant's friends. In this 
case, after vociferating some time, the would-be offended 
party came and said to my man that, if they exchanged 
some small gift, all would be right, but, my man taking nc 
notice of him, he went off rather crest-fallen. 

My men were as much astonished as myself at the de- 
mand for payment for leave to pass, and the almost entire 
neglect of the rules of hospitality. Katende gave us only 
a little meal and manioc, and a fowl. Being detained two 
days by heavy rains, we felt that a good stock of patience 
was necessary in travelling through this country in the 
rainy season. 

Passing onward without seeing Katende, we crossed a 
small rivulet, the Sengko, by which we had encamped, and 
after two hours came to another, the Totelo, which was 
somewhat larger and had a bridge over it. At the farther 
end of this structure stood a negro, who demanded fees. 
He said the bridge was his, the path his; the guides were 
his children; and if we did not pay him he would prevent 
farther progress. This piece of civilization I was not pre- 
pared to meet, and stood a few seconds looking at our bold 
toll-keeper, when one of my men took off three copper 
bracelets, which paid for the whole party. The negro was 
a better man than he at first seemed, for he immediately 
went to his garden and brought us some leaves of tobacco 
as a present. 

When we got fairly away from the villages, the guides 
from Kangenke sat down and told us that there were thret) 



FLOODED VALLEYS. 207 

paths in front, and if we did not at once present them 
with a cloth they would leave us to take whichever we 
might like best. As I had pointed out the direction in 
which Loanda lay, and had only employed them for the 
Bake of knowing the paths between villages which lay 
along our route, and always objected when they led us in 
any other than the Loanda direction, I wished my men 
now to go on without the guides, trusting to ourselves to 
choose the path which would seem to lead us in the direction 
we had always followed. But Mashauana, fearing lest wo 
might wander, asked leave to give his own cloth, and when 
the guides saw that they came forward, shouting, ^^Averie! 
Averie !" 

In the afternoon of this day we came to a valley about 
a mile wide, filled with clear, fast-flowing water. The men 
on foot were chin deep in crossing, and we three on ox-back 
got wet to the middle, the weight of the animals preventing 
them from swimming. A thunder-shower descending com- 
pleted the partial drenching of the plain, .and gave a cold, 
uncomfortable " packing in a wet blanket" that night. 
Next day we found another flooded valley about half a 
mile wide, with a small and now deep rivulet in its middle, 
flowing rapidly to the S.S.E., or toward the Kasai. The 
middle part of this flood, being the bed of what at other 
times is the rivulet, was so rapid that we crossed by holding 
on to the oxen, and the current soon dashed them to the 
opposite bank : we then jumped off, and, the oxen being re- 
lieved of their burdens, we could pull them on to the shal- 
lower part. The rest of the valley was thigh deep and 
boggy, but, holding on by the belt which fastened the blanket 
to the ox, we each floundered through the nasty slough as 
well as we could. 

In the afternoon we came to another stream, nuana Loke, 
for child of Loke,) with a bridge over it. The men had to 
Bwim off to each end of the bridge, and when on it were 
breast deep : some preferred holding on by the tails of the 
oxen the whole way across. I intended to do this too ; 



208 LNCULTIVATED VALLEYS. 

but, riding to the deep part, before I could dismount and 
seize the helm the ox dashed off with his companions, and 
his body sank so deep that I failed in my attempt even to 
catch the blanket-belt, and if I pulled the bridle the ox 
seemed as if he would come backward upon me; so I struck 
out for the opposite bank alone. My poor fellows were 
dreadfully alarmed when they saw me parted from the 
cattle, and about twenty of them made a simultaneous rush 
into the water for my rescue, and just as I reached tho 
opposite bank one seized my arm, and another threw his 
around my body. When I stood up it was most gratifying 
to see them all struggling toward me. Some had leaped 
off the bridge and allowed their cloaks to float down the 
stream. Part of my goods, abandoned in the hurry, were 
brought up from the bottom after I was safe. Great was 
the pleasure expressed when they found that I could swim 
like themselves, without the aid of a tail, and I did and do 
feel grateful to these poor heathens for the promptitude 
with which they dashed in to save, as they thought, my 
life. I found my clothes cumbersome in the water : they 
could swim quicker from being naked. They swim like 
dogs, not frog-fashion as we do. 

In the evening we crossed the small rivulet Lozeze, and 
came to some villages of the Kasabi, from whom we got 
some manioc in exchange for beads. They tried to frighten 
■us by telling of the deep rivers we should have to cross in 
our way. I was drying my clothes by turning myself round 
and round before the fire. My men laughed at the idea of 
being frightened by rivers. " We can all swim : who car- 
ried the white man acros-s the river but himself?" I felt 
proud of their praise. 

Saturday, 4fA March. — Came to the outskirts of the ter- 
ritory of the Chiboque. We crossed the Konde and Xa- 
luze rivulets. The former is a deep, small stream with a 
bridge, the latter insignificant; the valleys in which these 
rivulets run are beautifully fertile. My companions are 
continually lamenting over the uncultivated vales in such 



DIFFERENCE IN COLOR OF AFRICANS. 209 

words as these: — ^^Wliat a fine country for cattle! My 
heart is sore to see such fruitful valleys for corn lying 
wpste." 

While at the villages of the Kasabi we saw no evidences 
of want of food among the people. Our beads were very 
valuable, but cotton cloth would have been still more so; as 
we travelled along, men, women, and children came running 
after us, with meal and fowls for sale, which we would 
gladly have purchased had we possessed any English manu- 
factures. When they heard that we had no cloth, they 
turned back much disappointed. 

The amount of population in the central parts of the 
country may be called large only as compared with the 
Cape Colony or the Bechuana country. The cultivated 
land is as nothing compared with what might be brought 
under the plough. There are flowing streams in abundance, 
which, were it necessary, could be turned to the purpose 
of irrigation with but little labor. Miles of fruitful country 
are now lying absolutely waste, for there is not even game 
to eat off the fine pasturage, and to recline under the ever- 
green, shady groves which we are ever passing in our pro- 
gress. The people who inhabit the central region are not 
all quite black in color. Many incline to that of bronze, 
and others are as light in hue as the Bushmen, who, it may 
be remembered, afford a proof that heat alone does not 
cause blackness, but that heat and moisture combined do 
very materially deepen the color. 

Having, on the aforementioned date, reached the village 
of Njambi, one of the chiefs of the Chiboque, we intended 
to pass a quiet Sunday; and, our provisions being quite 
spent, I ordered a tired riding-ox to be slaughtered. As 
we wished to be on good terms with all, we sent the hump 
and ribs to Njambi, with the explanation that this was the 
customary tribute to chiefs in the part from which we had 
come, and that we always honored men in his position. He 
returned thanks, and promised to send food. Next morn- 
ing he sent an impudent message, with a very small present 
18«- 



210 OUR ENCAMPMENT SURROUNDED. 

of meal; scorning the meat lie had accepted, he demanded 
either a man, an ox, a gun, powder, cloth, or a shell ; and, 
in the event of refusal to comply with his demand, he inti- 
mated his intention to prevent our farther progress. We 
replied, we should have thought ourselves fools if we had 
scorned his small present and demanded other food instead; 
and, even supposing we had possessed the articles named, 
no black man ought to impose a tribute on a party that did 
not trade in slaves. The servants who brought the mes- 
sage said that, when sent to the Mambari, they had always 
got a quantity of cloth from them for their master, and now 
expected the same, or something else as an equivalent, 
from me. 

We heard some of the Chiboque remark, ^'They have 
only five guns;'' and about mid-day Njambi collected all his 
people and surrounded our encampment. Their object was 
evidently to plunder us of every thing. My men seized 
their javelins, and stood on the defensive, while the young 
Chiboque had drawn their swords and brandished them 
with great fury. Some even pointed their guns at me, and 
nodded to each other, as much as to say, ^^ This is the way 
we shall do with him." I sat on my camp-stool, with my 
double-barrelled gun across my knees, and invited the chief 
to be seated also. When he and his counsellors had sat 
down on the ground in front of me, I asked what crimo 
we had committed that he had come armed in that way. 
He replied that one of my men, Pitsane, while sitting at 
the fire that morning, had, in spitting, allowed a small 
quantity of the saliva to fall on the leg of one of his men, 
and this ^^ guilt" he wanted to be settled by the fine of a 
man, ox, or gun. Pitsane admitted the fact of a little 
saliva having fallen on the Chiboque, and, in proof of its 
being a pure accident, mentioned that he had given the 
man a piece of meat, by way of making friends, just before 
it happened, and wiped it off with his hand as soon as it 
fell. In reference to a man being given, I declared that wo 
were all ready to die rather than give up one of our num- 



PROSPLCTS OF A FIGHT. 211 

bei io be a slave ; that ray men might as well give me as 1 
give one of tbem, for we were all free men. ^' Then you 
can give the gun with which the ox was shot." As we 
heard some of his people remarking even now that we had 
only "five guns/' we declined, on the ground that, as thej^ 
were intent on plundering us, giving a gun would be help* 
ing them to do so. 

This they denied, saying they wanted the customary 
tribute only. I asked what right they had to demand pay- 
ment for leave to tread on the ground of God, our common 
Father. If we trod on their gardens, we would pay, but 
not for marching on land which was still God's, and not 
theirs. Thoy did not attempt to controvert this, because 
it is in accordance with their own ideas, but reverted again 
to the pretended crime of the saliva. 

My men now entreated me to give something; and, after 
asking the chief if he really thought the affair of the 
spitting a matter of guilt, and receiving an answer in the 
affirmative, I gave him one of my shirts. The young 
Chiboque were dissatisfied, and began shouting and bran- 
dishing their swords for a greater fine. 

As Pitsane felt that he had been the cause of this dis- 
agreeable affair, he asked me to add something else. I 
gave a bunch of beads, but the counsellors objected this 
time ; so I added a large handkerchief. The more I yielded, 
the more unreasonable their demands became, and at 
every fresh demand a shout was raised by the armed party, 
and a rush made around us with brandishing of arms. One 
young man made a charge at my head from behind; but I 
quickly brought round the muzzle of my gun to his mouth, 
and he retreated. I pointed him out to the chief, and he 
ordered him to retire a little. I felt anxious to avoid the 
effusion of blood ; and though sure of being able, with my 
Makololo, who had been drilled by Sebituane, to drive off 
twice the number of our assailants, though now a large 
body and well armed with spears, swords, arrows, and 
guns, I strove to avoid actual collision. My men were 



212 THE riGHT AVERTED. 

quite unprepared for this exhibition, but behaved with 
admirable coolness. The chief and counsellors, by accept- 
ing my invitation to be seated, had placed themselves in a 
trap, for my men very quietly surrounded them, and made 
them feel that there was no chance of escaping their spears. 
I then said that, as one thing after another had failed to 
satisfy them, it was evident that tliey wanted to fight, while 
we only wanted to pass peaceably through the country; 
that they must begin first, and bear the guilt before God : 
we would not fight till they had struck the first blow. I 
then sat silent for some time. It was rather trying for 
me, because I knew that the Chiboque would aim at the 
white man first ; but I was careful not to appear flurried, 
and, having four barrels ready for instant action, looked 
quietly at the savage scene around. The Chiboque coun- 
tenance, by no means handsome, is not improved by the 
practice which they have adopted of filing the teeth to a 
point. The chief and counsellors, seeing that they were 
in more danger than I, did not choose to follow our decision 
that they should begin by striking the first blow and then 
see what we could do, and were perhaps influenced by 
seeing the air of cool preparation which some of my men 
displayed at the prospect of a work of blood. 

The Chiboque at last put the matter before us in this 
way : — '^ You come among us in a new way, and say you 
are quite friendly : how can we know it unless you give us 
some of your food, and you take some of ours ? If you 
give us an ox, we will give you whatever you may wish, 
and then we shall be friends.'' In accordance with the 
entreaties of my men, I gave an ox, and, when asked what 
I should like in return, mentioned food as the thing which 
we most needed. In the evening, Njambi sent us a very 
small basket of meal, and two or three pounds of the flesh 
of our own ox ! with the apology that he had no fowls, 
and very little of any other food. It was impossible to 
avoid a laugh at the coolness of the generous creatures. I 
was truly thankful, nevertheless, that, though resolved to 



CHANGE OF PATH. 213 

lie rather than deliver up one of our number to be a 
slave, we had so far gained our point as to be allowed to 
pass on without having shed human blood. 

In the midst of the commotion, several Chiboque stole 
pieces of meat out of the sheds of my people, and Moho- 
risi, one of the Makololo, went boldly into the crowd and 
took back a marrow-bone from one of them. A few of my 
Batoka seemed afraid, and would perhaps have fled had 
the Siffray actually begun, but, upon the whole, I thought 
my men behaved admirably. They lamented having left 
their shields at home by command of Sekeletu, who feared 
that, if they carried these, they might be more disposed to 
be overbearing in their demeanor to the tribes we should 
meet. We had proceeded on the principles of peace and 
conciliation, and the foregoing treatment shows in what 
light our conduct was viewed : in fact, we were taken for 
interlopers trying to cheat the revenue of the tribe. They 
had been accustomed to get a slave or two from every 
slave-trader who passed them, and, now that we disputed 
the right, they viewed the infringement on what they con- 
sidered lawfully due with most virtuous indignation. 

March 6. — We were informed that the people on the 
west of the Chiboque of Njambi were familiar with the 
visits of slave-traders ; and it was the opinion of our guides 
from Kangenke that so many of my companions would be 
demanded from me, in the same manner as the people 
of Njambi had done, that I should reach the coast without 
a single attendant. I therefore resolved to alter our course 
and strike away to the N.^^.E., in the hope that at some 
point farther north I might find an exit to the Portuguese 
settlement of Cassange. We proceeded at first due north, 
with the Kasabi villages on our right and the Kasau on 
our left. During the first twenty miles we crossed many 
small, but now swollen, streams, having the usual boggy 
banks ; and wherever the water had stood for any length 
of time it was discolored with rust of iron. 

On the 8th, one of the men had left an ounce or two of 



214 THE OX "SINBAD." 

powder at our sleeping-place, and went back several miles 
for it. My clothing being wet from crossing a stream, 1 
was compelled to wait for him : had I been moving in the 
sun I should have felt no harm ; but the inaction led to a 
violent fit of fever. The continuance of this attack was a 
source of much regret ; for we went on next day to a small 
rivulet called Chihune, in a lovely valley, and had, for a 
wonder, a clear sky and a clear moon ; but such was the 
confusion produced in my mind by the state of my body, 
that I could scarcely manage, after some hours' trial, to 
get a lunar observation in which I could repose confidence. 
The Chihune flows into the Longe, and that into the Chi- 
hombo, a feeder of the Kasai. Those who know the diffi- 
culties of taking altitudes, times, and distances, and com- 
mitting all of them to paper, will sympathize with me in 
this and many similar instances. While at Chihune, the 
men of a village brought wax for sale, and, on finding that 
we wished honey, went off and soon brought a hive. All 
the bees in the country are in possession of the natives ; 
for they place hives sufficient for them all. After having 
ascertained this, we never attended the call of the honey- 
guide, for we were sure it would only lead us to a hive 
which we had no right to touch. The bird continues its 
habit of inviting attention to the honey, though its ser- 
vices in this district are never actually needed. My 
Makololo lamented that they never knew before that wax 
could be sold for any thing of value. 

In passing through these narrow paths I had an oppor- 
tunity of observing the peculiarities of my ox " Sinbad.'* 
He had a softer back than the others, but a much more 
intractable temper. His horns were bent downward and 
hung loosely, so he could do no harm with them^ but, as 
we wended our way slowly along the narrow path, he 
would suddenly dart aside. A string tied to a stick put 
through the cartilage of the nose serves instead of a bridle : 
if you jerk this back, it makes him run faster on; if you 
pull it to one side, he allows the nose and head to go, but 



INCIPIENT MUTINY. 215 

keeps the opposite eye directed to the forbidden spot aud 
goes in spite of you. The only way he can be brought to 
a stand is by a stroke with a wand across the nose. When 
Sinbad ran in below a climber stretched over the path so 
low that I could not stoop under it, I was dragged off and 
came down on the crown of my head; and he never 
allowed an opportunity of the kind to pass without trying 
to inflict a kick, as if I neither had nor deserved his love. 

On leaving the Chihune, we crossed the Longe, and, as 
the day was cloudy, our guides wandered in a forest away 
to the west till we came to the river Chihombo, flowing to 
the E.N.E. My men depended so much on the sun for 
guidance, that, having seen nothing of the luminary all 
day, they thought we had wandered back to the Chiboque; 
and, as often happens when bewildered, they disputed as 
to the point where the sun should rise next morning. As 
soon as the rains would allow next day, we went ofl" to the 
N.E. It would have been better to have travelled by com- 
pass alone ; for the guides took advantage of any fears ex- 
pressed by my people, and threatened to return if presents 
were not made at once. But my men had never left their 
own country before except for rapine and murder. "When 
they formerly came to a village, they were in the habit of 
killing numbers of the inhabitants and then taking a few 
young men to ser^'e as guides to the next place. As this 
was their first attempt at an opposite line of conduct, and 
as they were without their shields, they felt defenceless 
among the greedy Chiboque, and some allowance must be 
made for them on that account. 

Saturday, Wth. — Eeached a small village on the banks 
of a narrow stream. I was too ill to go out of my little 
covering except to quell a mutiny which began to show 
itself among some of the Batoka and Ambonda of our 
])Hrty. They grumbled, as they often do against their 
chiefs when they think them partial in their gifts, because 
they supposed that I had shown a preference in the distri- 
bution of the beads; but the beads I had given to my prin- 



216 INSUBORDINATION SUPPRESSED. 

cipal men were only sufficient to purchase a scanty meal, 
and I had hastened on to this village in order to slaughter 
a tired ox and give them all a feast as well as a rest on 
Sunday, as preparation for the journey before us. I ex- 
plained this to them, and thought their grumbling was al- 
layed. I soon sank into a state of stupor, which the fever 
sometimes produced, and was oblivious to all their noise in 
slaughtering. On Sunday the mutineers were making a 
terrible din in preparing a skin they had procured. I re- 
quested them twice, by the man who attended me, to be 
more quiet, as the noise pained me; but, as they paid no 
attention to this civil request, I put out my head, and, re- 
peating it myself, was answered by an impudent laugh. 
Knowing that discipline would be at an end if this mutiny 
were not quelled, and that our lives depended on vigor- 
ously upholding authority, I seized a double-barrelled 
pistol and darted forth from the domicile, looking, I sup- 
pose, so savage as to put them to a precipitate flight. As 
some remained within hearing, I told them that I must 
maintain discipline, though at the expense of some of their 
limbs; so long as we travelled together they must re- 
member that I was master, and not they. There being 
but little room to doubt my determination, they imme- 
diately became very obedient, and never afterward gave 
me any trouble or imagined that they had any right to 
my property. 

Idth. — We went forward some miles, but were brought 
to a stand by the severity of my fever on the banks of a 
branch of the Loajima, another tributary of the Kasai. I 
was in a state of partial coma until late at night, when it 
became necessary for me to go out ; and I was surprised to 
find that my men had built a little stockade, and some of 
them took their spears and acted as a guard. I found that 
we were surrounded by enemies, and a party of Chiboque 
lay near the gateway, after having preferred the demand 
of ^^a man, an ox, a gun, or a tusk.'* My men had prepared 
for defence in case of a night-attack, and, when the Chi- 



DEMANDS OF THE CHIBOQUE. 217 

boque wished to be shown where I lay sick, they very 
properly refused to point me out. In the morning I went 
out to the Chiboque, and found that they answered me 
civilly regarding my intentions in opening the country, 
teaching them, &c. &c. They admitted that their chiefs 
would be pleased with the prospect of friendship, and now 
only wished to exchange tokens of good-will with me, and 
offered three pigs, which they hoped I would accept. The 
people here are in the habit of making a present and then 
demanding whatever they choose in return. We had been 
forewarned of this by our guides; so I tried to decline, by 
asking if they would eat one of the pigs in company with 
us. To this proposition they said that they durst not 
accede. I then accepted the present, in hope that the 
blame of deficient friendly feeling might not rest with me, 
and presented a razor, two bunches of beads, and twelve 
copper rings, contributed by my men from their arms. 
They went off to report to their chief; and, as I was quite 
unable to move from excessive giddiness, we continued in 
the same spot on Tuesday evening, when they returned 
with a message couched in very plain terms, that a man, 
tusk, gun, or even an ox, alone would be acceptable; that 
he had every thing else in his possession but oxen, and 
that, whatever I should please to demand from him, he 
would gladly give it. As this was all said civilly, and 
there was no help for it if we refused but bloodshed, I gave 
a tired riding-ox. My late chief mutineer, an Ambonda 
man, was now overloyal, for he armed himself and stood 
at the gateway. He would rather die than see his father 
imposed on; but I ordered Mosantu to take him out of the 
way, which he did promptly, and allowed the Chiboque to 
march off well pleased with their booty. I told my men 
that I esteemed one of their lives of more value than all the 
oxen we had, and that the only cause which could induce 
me to fight would be to save the lives and liberties of the 
majority. In the propriety of this they all agreed, and 
Baid that, if the Chiboque molested us who behaved s« 

19 



218 A ROBBER-PARTY. 

peaceably, the guilt would be on their heads This is a 
favorite mode of expression throughout the whole country. 
All are anxious to give explanation of any acts they have 
performed, and conclude the narration with, "I have no 
guilt or blame,'' ("molatu/') "They have the guilt/' 1 
never could be positive whether the idea in their minds ia 
guilt in the sight of the Deity, or of mankind only. 

'Next morning the robber-party came with about thirty 
yards of strong striped English calico, an axe, and two 
hoes for our acceptance, and returned the copper rings, as 
the chief was a great man and did not need the ornaments 
of my men, but we noticed that they were taken back 
again. I divided the cloth among my men, and pleased 
them a little by thus compensating for the loss of the ox. 
I advised the chief, whose name we did not learn, as he 
did not deign to appear except under the alias Matiamvo, 
to get cattle for his own use, and expressed sorrow that I 
had none wherewith to enable him to make a commence- 
ment. Eains prevented our proceeding till Thursday 
morning, and then messengers appeared to tell us that 
their chief had learned that all the cloth sent by him had 
not been presented; that the copper rings had been secreted 
by the persons ordered to restore them to us, and that he 
had stripped the thievish emissaries of their property as a 
punishment. Our guides thought these were only spies of 
a larger party concealed in the forest through which tare 
were now about to pass. We prepared for defence by 
marching in a compact body and allowing no one to 
straggle far behind the others. We marched through 
many miles of gloomy forest in gloomier silence, but no- 
thing disturbed us. We came to a village, and found all 
the men absent, — the guides thought, in the forest, with 
their countrymen. I was too ill to care much whether we 
were attacked or not. Though a pouring rain came on, as 
we were all anxious to get away out of a bad neighbor- 
hood, we proceeded. The thick atmosphere prevented my 
seeing the creeping plants in time to avoid them; sc 



MORE TROUBLES. 219 

Pitsane, Mohorisi, and I, who alone were mounted, were 
often caught; and, as there is no stopping the oxen when 
they have the prospect of giving the rider a tumble, we 
came frequently to the ground. In addition to these mis- 
haps, Sinbad went off at a plunging gallop, the bridle 
broke, and I came down backward on the crown of my 
head. He gave me a kick on the thigh at the same time. 
I felt none the worse for this rough treatment, but would 
not recommend it to others as a palliative in cases of fever. 
This last attack of fever was so obstinate that it reduced 
me almost to a skeleton. The blanket which I used as 
a saddle on the back of the ox, being frequently wet, 
remained so beneath me even in the hot sun, and, aided by 
the heat of the ox, caused extensive abrasion of the skin, 
which was continually healing and getting sore again. To 
this inconvenience was now added the chafing of my pro- 
jecting bones on the hard bed. 

On Friday we came to a village of civil people on the 
banks of the Loajima itself, and we were wet all day in 
consequence of crossing it. The bridges over it, and 
another stream which we crossed at mid-day, were sub- 
merged, as we have hitherto invariably found, by a flood 
of perfectly-clear water. At the second ford we were met 
by a hostile party, who refused us farther passage. I 
ordered my men to proceed in the same direction we had 
been pursuing, but our enemies spread themselves out in 
front of us with loud cries. Our numbers were about 
equal to theirs this time, so I moved on at the head of my 
men. Some ran off to other villages, or back to their own 
village, on pretence of getting ammunition; others called 
out that all traders came to them, and that we must do 
the same. As these people had plenty of iron-headed 
arrows and some guns, when we came to the edge of 
the forest I ordered my men to put the luggage in our 
centre, and, if our enemies did not fire, to cut down 
some young trees and make a screen as quickly as possible, 
but do nothing to them except in case of actual attack. 1 



220 CONTINUED DEMANDS. 

then dismounted, and, advancing a little toward our prin- 
cipal opponent, showed him how easily I could kill him, 
hut pointed upward, saying, "1 fear God." He did the 
game, placing his hand on his heart, pointing upward, and 
saying, ^^I fear to kill; but come to our village; come: do 
come." At this juncture, the old head-man, longa Panza, 
a venerable negro, came up, and I invited him and all to 
be seated, that we might talk the matter over. longa 
Panza soon let us know that he thought himself very ill 
treated in being passed by. As most skirmishes arise 
from misunderstanding, this might have been a serious 
one; for, like all the tribes near the Portuguese settle- 
ments, people here imagine that they have a right to 
demand payment from every one who passes through the 
country ; and now, though longa Panza was certainly no 
match for my men, yet they were determined not to forego 
their right without a struggle. I removed with my men 
to the vicinity of the village, thankful that no accident had 
as yet brought us into actual collision. 

The reason why the people have imbibed the idea so 
strongly that they have a right to demand payment for 
leave to pass through the country is probably this. They 
have seen no traders except those either engaged in pur- 
chasing slaves or who have slaves in their employment. 
These slave-traders have always been very much at the 
mercy of the chiefs through whose country they have 
passed ; for, if they afforded a ready asylum for runaway 
slaves, the traders might be deserted at any moment, and 
stripped of their property altogether. They are thus 
obliged to curry favor with the chiefs, so as to get a safe- 
conduct from them. The same system is adopted to induce 
the chiefs to part with their people, whom all feel to be the 
real source of their importance in the country. On the 
return of the traders from the interior with chains of slaves, 
it is so easy for a chief who may be so disposed to take 
away a chain of eight or ten unresisting slaves, that the 
merchant is fain to give any amount of presents in order lo 



VILLAGE OP lONGA PANZA. 221 

secure the good-will of the rulers. The independent chiefs, 
not knowing why their favor is so eagerly sought, become 
excessively proud and supercilious in their demands, and 
look upon white men with the greatest contempt. To such 
lengths did the Bangala, a tribe near to which we had now 
approached, proceed a few years ago, that they compelled 
the Portuguese traders to pay for water, wood, and even 
grass, and every possible pretext was invented for levying 
fines ; and these were patiently submitted to so long as the 
slave-trade continued to flourish. We had unconsciously 
come in contact with a system which was quite unknown 
in the country from which my men had set out. An 
English trader may there hear a demand for payment of 
guides, but never, so far as I am aware, is he asked to pay 
for leave to traverse a country. The idea does not seem 
to have entered the native mind, except through slave- 
traders; for the aborigines all acknowledge that the un- 
tilled land, not needed for pasturage, belongs to God alone, 
and that no harm is done by people passing through it. I 
rather believe that, wherever the slave-trade has not pene- 
trated, the visits of strangers are esteemed a real privilege 

The village of old Tonga Panza (lat. 10° 25' S., long. 20' 
15' E.) is small, and embowered in lofty evergreen trees, 
which were hung around with fine festoons of creepers. 
He sent us food immediately, and soon afterward a goat, 
which was considered a handsome gift, there being but few 
domestic animals, though the country is well adapted for 
them. I suspect this, like the country of Shinte and Ka- 
tema, must have been a tsetse district, and only recently 
rendered capable of supporting other domestic animals be- 
sides the goat by the destruction of the game through the 
extensive introduction of fire-arms. We might all have 
been as ignorant of the existence of this insect-plague a? 
the Portuguese, had it not been for the numerous migra- 
tions of pastoral tribes which took place in the south in 
consequence of Zulu irruptions. 

During these exciting scenes I always forgot my fever; 

19* 



222 DIFFICULTY WITH THE GUIDES 

but a terrible sense of sinking came back with the feeling 
of safety. The same demand of payment for leave to pass 
was made on the 20th by old longa Panza as by the other 
Chiboqiie. I offered the shell presented by Shinte, but 
longa Panza said he was too old for ornaments. We might 
have succeeded very well with him, for he was by no 
means unreasonable, and had but a very small village of 
supporters; but our two guides from Kangenke compli- 
cated our difficulties by sending for a body of Bangala 
traders, with a view to force us to sell the tusks of Seke- 
letu and pay them with the price. We offered to pay 
them handsomely if they would perform their promise of 
guiding us to Cassange, but they knew no more of the 
paths than we did; and my men had paid them repeatedly 
and tried to get rid of them, but could not. They now 
joined with our enemies, and so did the traders. Two 
guns and some beads belonging to the latter were standing 
in our encampment, and the guides seized them and ran 
off. As my men knew that we should be called upon to 
replace them, they gave chase, and when the guides saw 
that they would be caught they threw down the guns, 
directed their flight to the village, and rushed into a hut. 
The doorway is not much higher than that of a dog's ken- 
nel. One of the guides was reached by one of my men as 
he was in the act of stooping to get in, and a cut was 
inflicted on a projecting part of the body which would have 
made any one in that posture wince. The guns were 
restored, but the beads were lost in the flight. All I had 
remaining of my stock of beads could not replace those 
lost ; and, though we explained that we had no part in the 
guilt of the act, the traders replied that we had brought 
the thieves into the country ; these were of the Bangala, 
who had been accustomed to plague the Portuguese in the 
most vexatious way. We were striving to get a passage 
through the country, and, feeling anxious that no crime 
whatever should be laid to our charge, tried the concilia 



DISCOURAGEMENTS. 223 

tory plan here, though we were not, as in the other in- 
Btances, likely to be overpowered by numbers. 

My men offered all their ornaments, and I offered all my 
beads and shirts; but, though we had come to the village 
against our will, and the guides had also followed us con- 
trary to our desire, and had even sent for the Bangala 
traders without our knowledge or consent, yet matters 
could not be arranged without our giving an ox and one 
of the tusks. We were all becoming disheartened, and 
could not wonder that native expeditions from the interior 
to the coast had generally failed to reach their destinations. 
My people were now so much discouraged that some pro- 
posed to return home : the prospect of being obliged to 
return when just on the threshold of the Portuguese set- 
tlements distressed me exceedingly. After using all my 
powers of persuasion, I declared to them that if they re- 
turned I would go on alone, and went into my little tent 
with the mind directed to Him who hears the sighing of 
the soul, and was soon followed by the head of Mohorisi, 
saying, " We will never leave you. Do not be disheartened. 
Wherever you lead we will follow. Our remarks were 
made only on account of the injustice of these people." 
Others followed, and with the most artless simplicity of 
manner told me to be comforted : 'Hhey were all my chil- 
dren; they knew no one but Sekeletu and me, and they 
would die for me; they had not fought, because I did not 
wish it; they had just spoken in the bitterness of their 
spirit, and when feeling that they could do nothing; but 
if these enemies begin you will see what we can do." One 
of the oxen we offered to the Chiboque had been rejected 
because he had lost part of his tail, as they thought that it 
had been cut off and witchcraft-medicine inserted; and 
some mirth was excited by my proposing to raise a similar 
objection to all the oxen we still had in our possession. 
The remaining four soon presented a singular shortness of 
their caudal extremities, and, though no one ever asked 
whether they had medicine in the stumps or no, we were 



224 GUIDES PREPAID. 

no more troubled by the demand for an ox ! We now 
slaughtered another ox, that the spectacle might not be 
seen of the owners of the cattle fasting while the Chiboque 
were feasting. 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES THE WEST COAST OP AFRICA. 

24:th. — loNGA Panza's sons agreed to act as guides into 
the territory of the Portuguese if I would give them the 
shell given by Shinte. I was strongly averse to this, and 
especially to give it beforehand, but yielded to the entreaty 
of my people to appear as if showing confidence in these hope- 
ful youths. They urged that they wished to leave the shell 
with their wives as a sort of payment to them for enduring 
their husbands' absence so long. Having delivered the pre- 
cious shell, we went west-by-north to the river Chikapa, 
which here (lat. 10° 22' S.) is forty or fifty yards wide, 
and at present was deep; it was seen flowing over a rocky, 
broken cataract with great noise about half a mile above 
our ford. We were ferried over in a canoe made out of a 
single piece of bark sewed together at the ends, and having 
sticks placed in it at different parts to act as ribs. 

"Next morning our guides went only about a mile, and 
then told us they would return home. I expected this 
when paying them beforehand, in accordance with the en- 
treaties of the Makololo, who are rather ignorant of the 
world. Yery energetic remonstrances were addressed to 
the guides, but they slipped off one by one in the thick 
forest through which we were passing, and I was glad to 
hear my comp8,nions coming to the conclusion that, as we 
were now in parts visited by traders, we did not require 
the guides, whose chief use had been to prevent misappre- 
hension of our objects in the minds of the villagers. 



TRADERS. 225 

26th. — We spent Sunday on the banks of the Quilo or 
Kweelo, here a stream of about ten yards wide. It runs 
in a deep glen, the sides of which are almost five hundred 
yards of slope, and rocky, the rocks being hardened cal- 
careous tufa lying on clay shale and sandstone below, with 
a capping of ferruginous conglomerate. The scenery would 
have been very pleasing, but fever took away much of the 
joy of life, and severe daily intermittents rendered me very 
weak and always glad to recline. 

In continuing our "W.N.W. course, we met many parties 
of native traders, each carrying some pieces of cloth and 
salt, with a few beads to barter for bees' -wax. They are 
all armed with Portuguese guns, and have cartridges with 
iron balls. When we meet, we usually stand a few minutes. 
They present a little salt, and we give a bit of ox-hide, or 
some other trifle, and then part with mutual good wishes. 
The hide of the oxen we slaughtered had been a valuable 
addition to our resources, for we found it in so great repute 
for girdles all through Loanda that we cut up every skin 
into strips about two inches broad, and sold them for meal 
and manioc as we went along. As we came nearer Angola 
we found them of less value, as the people there possess 
cattle themselves. 

The village on the Kweelo, at which we spent Sunday, 
was that of a civil, lively old man, called Sakandala, whc 
offered no objections to our progress. We found we should 
soon enter on the territory of the Bashinje, (Chinge of the 
Portuguese,) who are mixed with another tribe, named 
Bangala, which have been at war with the Babindele or 
Portuguese. Rains and fever, as usual, helped to impede 
our progress until we were put on the path which leads 
from Cassange and Bihe to Matiamvo by a head-man 
named Kamboela. This was a well-beaten footpath, and 
soon after entering upon it we met a party of half-caste 
traders from Bihe, who confirmed the information we had 
already got of this path leading straight to Cassange, 
through which they had come on their way from Bihe to 



226 VALLEY OF THE QUANGO. 

Caoango They kindly presented my men with some 
tobacco, and marvelled greatly when they found that I 
had never been able to teach myself to smoke. 

^s we were now alone, and sure of being on the way to 
the abodes of civilization, we went on briskly. 

On the 30th we came to a sudden descent from the high 
land, indented by deep, narrow valleys, over which we had 
lately been travelling. It is generally so steep that it can 
only be descended at particular points, and even there I 
was obliged to dismount, though so weak that I had to be 
led by my companions to prevent my toppling over in 
walking down. It was annoying to feel myself so helpless, 
for I never liked to see a man, either sick or well, give in 
effeminately. Below us lay the valley of the Quango. If 
you sit on the spot where Mary Queen of Scots viewed the 
battle of Langside, and look down on the vale of Clyde, 
you may see in miniature the glorious sight which a much 
greater and richer valley presented to our view. It is 
about a hundred miles broad, clothed with dark forest, 
except where the light-green grass covers meadow-lands on 
the Quango, which here and there glances out in the sun 
as it wends its way to the north. The opposite side of this 
great valley appears like a range of lofty mountains, and 
the descent into it about a mile, which, measured perpen- 
dicularly, may be from a thousand to twelve hundred feet. 
Emerging from the gloomy forests of Londa, this magnifi- 
cent prospect made us all feel as if a weight had been lifted 
off our eyelids. A cloud was passing across the middle of 
the valley, from which rolling thunder pealed, while above 
all was glorious sunlight ; and when we went down to the 
part where we saw it passmg we found that a very heavy 
thunder-shower had fallen under the path of the cloud, 
and the bottom of the valley, which from above seemed 
quite smooth, wo discovered to be intersected by groat 
numbers of deep-cut streams. Looking back from below, 
the descent appears as the edge of a table-land, with 
numerous indented dells and spurs jutting out all along, 



VALLEY OP THE QUANGO. 227 

giving it a serrated appearance. Both the top and sides 
of the sierra are covered with trees; but large patches 
of the more perpendicular parts are bare, and exhibit the 
red soil which is general over the region we have now 
entered. 

The hollow affords a section of this part of the country; 
and we find that the uppermost stratum is the ferruginous 
conglomerate already mentioned. The matrix is rust of 
iron, (or hydrous peroxide of iron and hematite,) and in it 
are embedded water- worn pebbles of sandstone and quartz. 
As this is the rock underlying the soil of a large part of Londa, 
its formation must have preceded the work of denudation by 
an arm of the sea which washed away the enormous mass 
of matter required before the valle^^ of Cassange could as- 
sume its present form. The strata under the conglomerate 
are all of red clay shale of different degrees of hardness, 
the most indurated being at the bottom. This red clay 
shale is named " keele'^ in Scotland, and has always been 
considered as an indication of gold; but the only thing we 
discovered was that it had given rise to a very slippery 
clay soil, so different from that which we had just left that 
Mashauana, who always prided himself on being an adept 
at balancing himself in the canoe on water, and so sure of 
foot on land that he could afford to express contempt for 
any one less gifted, came down in a very sudden and un- 
dignified manner, to the delight of all whom he had pre- 
viously scolded for falling. 

Sunday^ April 2. — We rested beside a small stream, and 
our hunger being now very severe, from having lived on 
manioc alone since leaving longa Panza's, we slaughtered 
one of our four remaining oxen. We could get neither 
meal nor manioc, but should have been comfortable had not 
the Bashinje chief Sansawe pestered us for the customary 
present. The native traders informed us that a display of 
force was often necessary before they could pass this man. 

Sansawe, the chief of a portion of the Bashinje, having 
sent the usual formal demand for a man, an ox, or a tusk, 



228 THE CHIEF SANSAWE. 

Bpoke very contemptuously of the poor things we offered 
him instead. We told his messengers that the tusks were* 
Sekeletu's : every thing was gone except my instruments, 
which could be of no use to them whatever. One of them 
begged some meat, and, when it was refused, said to my 
men, "You may as well give it, for we shall take all after 
we have killed you to-morrow.'' The more humbly we 
Bpoke, the more insolent the Bashinje became, till at last 
we were all feeling savage and sulky, but continued to 
Bpeak as civilly as we could. They are fond of argument, 
and, when I denied their right to demand tribute from a 
white man who did not trade in slaves, an old white- 
headed negro put rather a posing question : — " You know 
that God has placed chiefs among us whom we ought to 
support. How is it that you, who have a book that tells 
you about him, do not come forward at once to pay this 
chief tribute like every one Slse ?" I replied by asking, 
'^ How could I know that this was a chief, who had allowed 
me to remain a day and a half near him without giving me 
any thing to eat V This, which to the uninitiated may 
seem sophistry, was to the Central Africans quite a rational 
question; for he at once admitted that food ought to have 
been sent, and added that probably his chief was only 
making it ready for me, and that it would come soon. 

After being wearied by talking all day to different par- 
ties sent by Sansawe, we were honored by a visit from 
himself: he is quite a young man, and of rather a pleasing 
countenance. There cannot have been much intercourse 
between real Portuguese and these people even here, so 
close to the Quango, for Sansawe asked me to show him 
my hair, on the ground that, though he had heard of it, 
and some white men had even passed through his country, 
he had never seen straight hair before. This is quite pos- 
sible, as most of the slave-traders are not Portuguese, but 
half-castes. The difference between their wool and our hair 
caused him to burst into a laugh, and the contrast between 
the exposed and unexposed parts of my skin, when exhibited 



HOSTILITY OP THE BASHINJE. 229 

m evidence of our all being made of one stock oripjinally, 
<ind the children of one Maker, seemed to strike him with 
wonder. I then showed him my watch, and wished to 
win my way into his confidence by conversation ; but, when 
about to exhibit my pocket-compass, he desired me to de- 
sist, as he was afraid of my wonderful things. I told him. 
if he knew my aims as the tribes in the interior did, and 
as I hoped he would yet know them and me, he would be 
glad to stay, and see also the pictures of the magic lan- 
tern ; but, as it was now getting dark, he had evidently got 
enough of my witchery, and began to use some charms to 
dispel any kindly feelings he might have found stealing 
round his heart. He asked leave to go, and when his party 
moved off a little way he sent for my spokesman, and 
told him that, " if we did not add a red jacket and a man 
to our gift of a few copper rings and a few pounds of meat, 
we must return by the way we had come." I said, in 
reply, " that we should certainly go forward next day, and 
if lie commenced hostilities the blame before God would 
be that of Sansawe ;" and my man added, of his own ac- 
cord, '^How many white men have you killed in this path V 
which might be interpreted into, " You have never killed 
any white man; and you will find ours more difficult to 
manage than you imagine." It expressed a determination, 
which we had often repeated to each other, to die rather 
than yield one of our party to be a slave. 

Hunger has a powerful effect on the temper. When we 
had got a good meal of meat, we could all bear the petty 
annoyances of these borderers on the more civilized region 
in front with equanimity; but, having suffered considerably 
of late, we were all rather soured in our feelings, and not 
unfrequently I overheard my companions remark in their 
own tongue, in answer to threats of attack, "That's what 
we want : only begin, then ;" or with clenched teeth they 
would exclaim to each other, "These things have never 
travelled, and do not know what men are." The worrying, 
of which I give only a slight sketch, had considerable in- 

20 



230 THE QUANGO. 

fluence on my mind, and more especially as it was inipos- 
sible to make any allowance for the Bashinje such as I 
was willing to award to the Chiboque. They saw that we 
had nothing to give, nor would they be benefited in the 
least by enforcing the impudent order to return whence 
we had come. They were adding insult to injury, and this 
put us all into a fighting spirit, and, as nearly as we could 
judge, we expected to be obliged to cut our way through 
the Bashinje next morning. 

Sd April — As soon as day dawned we were astir, and, 
setting off in a drizzling rain, passed close to the village. 
This rain probably damped the ardor of the robbers. 
We, however, expected to be fired upon from every clump 
of trees, or from some of the rocky hillocks among which 
we were passing ; and it was only after two hours' march 
that we began to breathe freely, and my men remarked, 
in thankfulness, ^'Wq are children of Jesus/' We con- 
tinued our course, notwithstanding the rain, across the 
bottom of the Quango valley, which we found broken by 
clay shale rocks jutting out, though lying nearly horizon- 
tally. We passed many villages during this drenching, 
one of which possessed a flock of sheep; and after six 
hours we came to a stand near the river Quango, (lat. 9° 
53' S., long. 18° 37' E.,) which may be called the boundary 
of the Portuguese claims to territory on the west. As I 
had now no change of clothing, I was glad to cower under 
the shelter of my blanket, thankful to God for his good- 
ness in bringing us so far without losing one of the 
party. 

4th April. — We were now on the banks of the Quango, a 
river one hundred and fifty yards wide, and very deep. The 
water was discolored, — a circumstance which we had ob- 
served in no other river in Londa or in the Makololo 
country. This fine river flows among extensive meadows 
clothed with gigantic grass and reeds, and in a direction 
nearly north. 

We were advised not to sleep near it ; but, as we were 



DIFFICULTY WITH BASIIINJE CHIEF. 



231 



anxious to cross to the western side, we tried to induce 
some of the Bashinje to lend us canoes for the purpose. 
This brought out the chief of these parts, who informed us 
that all the canoe-men were his children, and nothing 
could be done without his authority. He then made the 
usual demand for a man, an ox, or a gun, adding that 
otherwise we must return to the country from which we 
had come. As I did not believe that this man had any 
power over the canoes of the other side, and suspected that 




BASHINJE CHIEF'S MODE OF WEARING THE HAIR. 

if I gave him my blanket — the only thing I now had in 
reserve — he might leave us in the lurch after all, I tried to 
persuade my men to go at once to the bank, about two 
miles off, and obtain possession of the canoes before we 
gave up the blanket; but they thought that this chief 
might attack us in the act of crossing, should we do so. 
The chief came himself to our encampment and made his 
demand again. My men stripped off the last of their cop- 
per rings and gave them ; but he was still intent on a man. 



232 OPPORTUNE AID. 

He thought, as others did, that my men were slaves. He 
was a young man, with woolly hair elaborately dressed : 
thai, behind was made up into a cone, about eight inches 
in diameter at the base, carefully swathed round with red 
and black thread. As I resisted the proposal to deliver up 
my blanket until they had placed us on the western bank, 
this chief continued to worry us with his demands till I 
was tired. My little tent was now in tatters, and, having 
a wider hole behind than the door in front, I tried in vain 
to lie down out of sight of our persecutors. We were on a 
reedy flat, and could not follow our usual plan of a small 
stockade in which we had time to think over and concoct 
our plans. As I was trying to persuade my men to move 
on to the bank in spite of these people, a young half-caste 
Portuguese sergeant of militia, Cypriano di Abreu, made 
his appearance and gave the same advice. He had come 
across the Quango in search of bees'-wax. When we 
moved off from the chief who had been plaguing us, his 
people opened a fire from our sheds, and continued to blaze 
away some time in the direction we were going ; but none 
of the bullets reached us. It is probable that they ex- 
pected a demonstration of the abundance of ammunition 
they possessed would make us run; but, when we con- 
tinued to move quietly to the ford, they proceeded no 
farther than our sleeping-place. Cypriano assisted us in 
making a more satisfactory arrangement with the ferry- 
man than parting with my blanket ; and as soon as we 
reached the opposite bank we were in the territory of the 
Bangala, who are subjects of the Portuguese, and often 
spoken of as the Cassanges or Cassantse; and happily all 
our difiiculties with the border-tribes were at an end. 

Passing with light hearts through the high grass by a 
narrow footpath about three miles west of the river, we came 
to several neat square houses, with many cleanly-looking 
half-caste Portuguese standing in front of them to salute 
us. They are all enrolled in the militia, and our friend 
Cypriano is the commander of a division established here. 



CYPRIANO'S GENEROUS HOSPITALITY. x?33 

We came to the dwelling of Cypriano after dark, and 1 
pitched my little tent in front of it for the night. We had 
the company of mosquitos here. We never found them 
troublesome on the banks of the pure streams of Londa. 
On the morning of the 5th, Cypriano generously supplied 
my men with pumpkins and maize, and then invited me to 
breakfast, which consisted of groundnuts and roasted 
maize, then boiled manioc-roots and groundnuts, v/ith 
guavas and honey as a dessert. I felt sincerely grateful 
for this magnificent breakfast. 

At dinner Cypriano was equally bountiful, and several 
of his friends joined us in doing justice to his hospitality. 
Before eating, all had water poured on the hands by a 
female slave to wash them. One of the guests cut up a 
fowl with a knife and fork. Keither forks nor spoons were 
used in eating. The repast was partaken of with decency 
and good manners, and concluded by washing the hands as 
at first. 

Much of the civility shown to us here was, no doubt, 
owing to the flattering letters of recommendation I carried 
from the Chevalier Du Prat, of Cape Town; but I am 
inclined to believe that my friend Cypriano was influenced, 
too, by feelings of genuine kindness, for he quite bared his 
garden in feeding us during the few days which I remained, 
anxiously expecting the clouds to disperse so far as to 
allow of my taking observations for the determination of 
the position of the Quango. He slaughtered an ox for us, 
and furnished his mother and her maids with manioc-rools, 
to prepare farina for the four or five days of our journey to 
Cassangc, and never even hinted at payment. My wretched 
appearance must have excited his compassion. 

We were detained by rains and a desire to ascertain our 
geographical position till Monday, the 10th, and only got 
the latitude 9° 50' S., and, after three days' pretty hard 
travellii^.g through the long grass, reached Cassange, the 
farthest inland station of the Portuguese in Western Africa. 
I made my entrance in a somewhat forlorn state as to 

20* 



234 ARRIVAL AT CASSANGE. 

clothing among our Portuguese allies. The first gentleman 
I met in the village asked if I had a passport, and said it 
was necessary to take me before the authorities. As I was 
in the same state of mind in which individuals are who 
commit a petty depredation in order to obtain the shelter 
and food of a prison, I gladly accompanied him to the house 
of the commandant or Chefe, Senhor de Silva Eego. Having 
shown my passport to this gentleman, he politely asked me 
to supper, and, as we had eaten nothing except the farina 
of Cypriano from the Quango to this, I suspect I appeared 
particularly ravenous to the other gentlemen around the 
table. They seemed, however, to understand my position 
pretty well, from having all travelled extensively them- 
selves : had they not been present, I might have put some 
in my pocket to eat by night ; for, after fever, the appetite 
is excessively keen, and manioc is one of the most unsatisfy- 
ing kinds of food. Captain Antonio Eodrigues Neves then 
kindly invited me to take up my abode in his house. Next 
morning this generous man arrayed me in decent clothing, 
and continued during the whole period of my stay to treat 
me as if I had been his brother. I feel deeply grateful to 
him for his disinterested kindness. He not only attended 
to my wants, but also furnished food for my famishing 
party free of charge. 

The village of Cassange (pronounced Kassanje) is com- 
posed of thirty or forty traders' houses, slattered about, 
without any regularity, on an elevated flat spot in the great 
Quango or Cassange valley. They are built of wattle and 
daub, and surrounded by plantations of manioc, maize, &c. 
There are about forty Portuguese traders m this district, 
all of whom are officers in the militia, and many of them 
have become rich from adopting the plan of sending out 
pombeiros, or native traders, with large quantities of goods, 
to trade in the more remote parts of the country. If 1 
might judge from the week of feasting I passed among 
them, they are generally prosperous. 

As I always preferred to appear in my owi? proper cha- 



PORTUGUESE CURIOSITY. 235 

racter, I was an object of curiosity to these hospitable 
Portuguese. They evidently looked upon me as an agent 
of the English Government engaged in some new move 
ment for the suppression of slavery. They could not divine 
what a " missionario" had to do with latitudes and longi- 
tudes, which I was intent on observing. When we became 
a little familiar, the questions put were rather amusing : — 
" Is it common for missionaries to be doctors ?" " Are you 
a doctor of medicine and a ^ doutor mathematico' too ? 
You must be more than a missionary to know how to calcu- 
late the longitude. Come ; tell us at once what rank you 
hold in the English army." They may have given credit 
to my reason for wearing the mustache, as that explains 
why men have beards and women have none; but that 
which puzzled many besides my Cassange friends was the 
anomaly of my being a " sacerdote," with a wife and four 
children ! I usually got rid of the last question by putting 
another : — " Is it not better to have children with a wife than 
to have children without a wife?'^ But all were most kind 
and hospitable ; and, as one of their festivals was near, they 
invited me to partake of the feast. 

The anniversary of the Eesurrection of our Savior was 
observed on the 16th of April as a day of rejoicing, though 
the Portuguese have no priests at Cassange. The colored 
population dressed up a figure intended to represent Judas 
Iscariot, and paraded him on a riding-ox about the village : 
sneers and maledictions were freely bestowed on the poor 
wretch thus represented. The slaves and free colored popu- 
lation, dressed in their gayest clothing, made visits to all 
the principal merchants, and, wishing them " a good feast,'' 
expected a present in return. This, though frequently 
granted in the shape of pieces of calico to make new 
dresses, was occasionally refused; but the rebuff did not 
much affect the petitioner. 

At ten A.M. we went to the residence of the commandant, 
and, on a signal being given, two of the four brass gun8 
belonging to the Government commenced firing, and con- 



236 ffO PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOR. 

tinued some time, to the great admiration of my men, 
whose ideas of the power of a cannon are very exalted. 
The Portuguese flag was hoisted and trumpets sounded, as 
an expression of joy at the resurrection of our Lord. Cap- 
tain Neves invited all the principal inhabitants of the place, 
and did what he could to feast them in a princely style. 
All manner of foreign preserved fruits and wine from Por- 
tugal, biscuits from America, butter from Cork, and beer 
from England, were displayed, and no expense spared in 
rendering the entertainment joyous. After the feast was 
over, they sat down to the common amusement of card- 
playing, which continued till eleven o'clock at night. As 
far as a mere traveller could judge, they seemed to be 
polite and willing to aid each other. They live in a febrile 
district, and many of them had enlarged spleens. They 
have neither doctor, apothecary, school, nor priest, and, 
when taken ill, trust to each other and to Providence. As 
men left in such circumstances must think for themselves, 
they have all a good idea of what ought to be done in the 
common diseases of the country, and what they have 
of either medicine or skill they freely impart to each 
other. 

None of these gentlemen had Portuguese wives. They 
usually come to Africa in order to make a little money, 
and return to Lisbon. Hence they seldom bring their 
wives with them, and never can be successful colonists in 
consequence. It is common for them to have families by 
native women. It was particularly gratifying to me, who 
had been familiar with the stupid prejudice against color 
entertained only by those who are themselves becoming 
tawny, to view the liberality with which people of color 
were treated by the Portuguese. Instances, so common 
in the south, in which half-caste children are abandoned, 
are here extremely rare. They are acknowledged at table, 
and provided for by their fathers as if European. The 
colored clerks of the merchants sit at the same table with 
their employers without any embarrassment. The civil 



COUNTRY AROUND CASSANGE. 2S7 

manners of superiors to inferiors is probably the result of 
the position they occupy, — a few whites among th<. usands 
of blacks; but nowhere else in Africa is there so much 
good-will between Europeans and natives as here. If some 
border-colonists had the absolute certainty of our Govern- 
ment declining to bear them out in their arrogance, we 
should probably hear less of Caffre insolence. It is inso- 
lence which begets insolence. ■■ 
From the village of Cassange we have a good view of 
the surrounding country : it is a gently-undulating plain, 
covered with grass and patches of forest. The western 
edge of the Quango valley appears, about twenty miles 
off, as if it were a range of lofty mountains, and passes by 
the name of Tala Mungongo, ("Behold the Eange.") In 
the old Portuguese map, to which I had been trusting in 
planning my route, it is indicated as Talla Mugongo, or 
*' Castle of Bocks!" and the Coanza is put down as rising 
therefrom; but here I was assured that the Coanza had 
its source near Bihe, far to the southwest of this, and we 
should not see that river till we came near Pungo Andonga. 
It is somewhat remarkable that more accurate information 
about this country has not been published. Captain Keves 
and others had a correct idea of the courses of the rivers, 
and communicated their knowledge freely; yet about this 
time maps were sent to Europe from Angola representing 
the Quango and Coanza as the same river, and Cassange 
placed about one hundred miles from its true position. 
The frequent recurrence of the same name has probably 
helped to increase the confusion. I have crossed several 
Quangos, but all insignificant except that which drains this 
valley. The repetition of the favorite names of chiefs, as 
Catende, is also perplexing, as one Catende may be mis- 
taken for another. To avoid this confusion as much as 
possible, I have refrained from introducing many names. 
Numerous villages are studded all over the valley; but 
these possess no permanence, and many more existed pro- 



238 SALE OF IVORY. 

vious to the Portuguese expedition of 1850 to punish tho 
Bangala. 

This valley, as I have before remarked, is all fertile in 
the extreme. My men could never cease admiring its 
capability for raising their corn (JELolcus sorghum) and 
despising the comparatively -limited cultivation of the in- 
habitants. The Portuguese informed me that no manure 
is ever needed, but that the more the ground is tilled the 
better it yields. Yirgin soil does not give such a heavy 
crop as an old garden ; and, judging from the size of the 
maize and manioc in the latter, I can readily believe the 
statement. Cattle do well, too. Viewing the valley as a 
whole, it may be said that its agricultural and pastoral 
riches are lying waste. Both the Portuguese and theii 
descendants turn their attention almost exclusively to 
trade in wax and ivory; and, though the country would 
yield any amount of corn and dairy-produce, the native 
Portuguese live chiefly on manioc, and the Europeans 
purchase their flour, bread, butter, and cheese from the 
Americans. 

As the traders of Cassange were the first white men we 
had come to, we sold the tusks belonging to Sekeletu, which 
had been brought to test the difference of prices in the Ma- 
kololo and white men's country. The result was highly 
satisfactory to my companions, as the Portuguese give 
much larger prices for ivory than traders from the Cape 
can possibly give, who labor under the disadvantage of con- 
siderable overland expenses and ruinous restrictions. Two 
muskets, three small barrels of gunpowder, and English 
calico and baize sufficient to clothe my whole party, with 
large bunches of beads, all for one tusk, were quite delight- 
ful for those who had been accustomed to give two tusks 
for one gun. With another tusk we procured calico, which 
here is the chief currency, to pay our way down to the 
coast. The remaining two were sold for money to purchase 
a horse for Sekeletu at Loanda. 

The superiority of this new market was quite astound- 



DEPARTURE FROM CASSANGE. 239 

ing to the Makololo, and they began to abuse the traders 
by whom they had, while in their own country, been visited, 
and, as they now declared, "cheated," They had no idea 
of the value of time and carriage, and it was somewhat 
difficult for me to convince them that the reason of the dif- 
ference of prices lay entirely in what they themselves had 
done in coming here, and that, if the Portuguese should 
carry goods to their country, they would by no means be 
so liberal in their prices. They imagined that, if the Cas- 
sange traders came to Linyanti, they would continue to 
vend their goods at Cassange prices. I believe I gave them 
at last a clear idea of the manner in which prices were regu- 
lated by the expenses incurred; and when we went to 
Loanda, and saw goods delivered at a still cheaper rate, 
they concluded that it would be better for them to come to 
that city than to turn homeward at Cassange. 

Mr. Rego, the commandant, very handsomely offered me 
a soldier as a guard to Ambaca. My men told me that 
they had been thinking it would be better to turn back 
here, as they had been informed by the people of color at 
Cassange that I was leading them down to the sea-coast 
only to sell them, and they would be taken on board ship, 
fattened, and eaten, as the white men were cannibals. I 
asked if they had ever heard of an Englishman buying or 
selling people ; if I had not refused to take a slave when 
she was offered to me by Shinte ; but, as I had always be- 
haved as an English teacher, if they now doubted my inten- 
tions, they had better not go to the coast ; I, however, who 
expected to meet some of my countrymen there, was deter- 
mined to go on. They replied that they only thought it 
right to tell me what had been told to them, but they did 
not intend to leave me, and would follow wherever I 
should lead the way. This affair being disposed of for the 
time, the commandant gave them an ox, and me a friendly 
dinner before parting. All the merchants of Cassange 
accompanied us, in their hammocks carried by slaves, to 
the edge of the plateau on which their village stands, and 



240 A SOLDIER-GUIDE. 

we parted with the feeling in my mind that I should never 
forget their disinterested kindness. They not only did 
every thing they could to make my men and me comfort- 
able during our stay, but, there being no hotels in Loanda, 
they furnished me with letters of recommendation to their 
friends in that city, requesting them to receive me into 
their houses, for without these a stranger might find him- 
self a lodger in the streets. May God remember them in 
their day of need ! 

The latitude and longitude of Cassange, the most easterly 
station of the Portuguese in Western Africa, is lat. 9° 37' 
30" S. and long. 17° 49' E.; consequently we had still about 
three hundred miles to traverse before we could reach the 
coast. We had a black militia-corporal as a guide. He was 
a native of Ambaca, and, like nearly all the inhabitants of 
that district, known by the name of Ambakistas, could both 
read and write. He had three slaves with him, and was 
carried by them in a "tipoia," or hammock slung to ii pole. 

Having left Cassange on the 21st, we passed across the 
remaining portion of this excessively-fertile valley to the 
foot of Tala Mungongo. We crossed a fine little stream 
called the Lui on the 22d, and another named the Luare on 
the 24th, and then slept at the bottom of the height, which 
is from a thousand to fifteen hundred feet. 

Situated a few miles from the edge of the descent, we 
found the village of Tala Mungongo, and were kindly 
accommodated with a house to sleep in, — which was very 
welcome, as we were all both wet and cold. We found 
that the greater altitude and the approach of winter 
lowered the temperature so much that many of my men 
suffered severely from colds. At this, as at several other 
Portuguese stations, they have been provident enough to 
erect travellers' houses on the same principle as khans or 
caravanserais of the East. They are built of the usual 
wattle and daub, and have benches of rods for the way- 
farer to make his bed on; also chairs, and a table, and a 
large jar of water. These benches, though far from luxu- 



THE QUIZE- 241 

rious couches, were better than the ground under the 
rotten fragments of my gypsy -tent, for we had still showers 
occasionally, and the dews were ver}?- heavy. I continued 
to use them for the sake of the shelter they afforded, until 
I found that they were lodgings also for certain inconve- 
nient bedfellows. 

Tlth. — Five hours' ride through a pleasant country of 
forest and meadow, like those of Londa, brought us to a 
village of Basongo, a tribe living in subjection to the Por- 
tuguese. We crossed several little streams, which were 
flowing in the westerly direction in which we were march- 
ing, and unite to form the Quize, a feeder of the Coanza. 
The Basongo were very civil, as indeed all the tribes were 
who had been conquered by the Portuguese. The Basongo 
and Bangala are yet only partially subdued. The farther 
west we go from this the less independent we find the 
black population, until we reach the vicinity of Loanda, 
where the free natives are nearly identical in their feelings 
toward the Government with the slaves. But the go- 
vernors of Angola wisely accept the limited allegiance and 
tribute rendered by the more distant tribes as better than 
none. 

We spent Sunday, the 30th of April, at Kgio, close to 
the ford of the Quize as it crosses our path to fall into the 
Coanza. The country becomes more open, but is still 
abundantly fertile, with a thick crop of grass between two 
and three feet high. It is also well wooded and watered. 
Villages of Basongo are dotted over the landscape, and 
frequently a square house of wattle and daub, belonging to 
native Portuguese, is placed beside them for the purposes 
of trade. 

Pitsane and another of the men had violent attacks of 
fever, and it was no wonder; for the dampness and evapo- 
ration from the ground was excessive. When at any time 
1 attempted to get an observation of a star, if the trough 
of mercury were placed on the ground, so much moisture 
was condensed on the inside of the glass roof over it that 
Q 21 



242 rZYER — ARRIVAL AT AMBACA. 

it was with difficulty the reflection of the star could be 
seen. When the trough was placed on a box to prevent 
the moisture entering from below, so much dew was de- 
posited on the outside of the roof that it was soon neces- 
sary, for the sake of distinct vision, to wipe the glass. 
This would not have been of great consequence, but a short 
exposure to this dew was so sure to bring on a fresh fever 
that I was obliged to give up observation by night alto- 
gether. The inside of the only covering I now had was 
not much better, but under the blanket one is not so liable 
to the chill which the dew produces. 

It would have afforded me pleasure to have cultivated a 
more intimate acquaintance with the inhabitants of this 
part of the country, but the vertigo produced by frequent 
fevers made it as much as I could do to stick on the ox 
and crawl along in misery. In crossing the Lombe, my 
ox Sinbad, in the indulgence of his propensity to strike out 
a new path for himself, plunged overhead into a deep hole, 
and so soused me that I was obliged to move on to dry my 
clothing without calling on the Europeans who live on the 
bank. This I regretted, for all the Portuguese were very 
kind, and, like the Boers placed in similar circumstances, 
feel it a slight to be passed without a word of salutation. 
But we went on to a spot where orange-trees had been 
planted by the natives themselves, and where abundance 
of that refreshing fruit was exposed for sale. 

On entering the district of Ambaca, we found the land- 
scape enlivened by the appearance of lofty mountains in 
the distance, the grass comparatively short, and the whole 
country at this time looking gay and verdant. We crossed 
the Lucalla by means of a large canoe kept there by a man 
who farms the ferry from the Government and charges 
about a penny per head. A few miles beyond the Lucalla 
we came to the village of Ambaca, an important place in 
former times, but now a mere paltry village, beautifuUy 
situated on a little elevation in a plain surrounded on all 
hands by lofty mountains. It has a jail, and a good house 



FRUITS OF JESUIT TEACHING. 243 

for the commandant, but neither fort nor chnrch, though 
the ruins of a place of worship are still standing. 

We Tvere most kindly received by the commandant of 
Ambaca, Arsenio de Carpo, "who spoke a little English. 
He recommended wine for my debility, and here I took 
the first glass of that beverage I had taken in Africa. I 
felt much refreshed, and could then realize and meditate 
on the weakening effects of the fever. They were curious 
even to myself; for, though I bad tried several times since 
we left Xgio to take lunar observations, I could not avoid 
confusion of time and distance, neither could I hold the 
instrument steady, nor perform a simple calculation: hence 
many of the positions of this part of the route were left 
till my return from Loanda. Often, on getting up in the 
mornings, I found my clothing as wet from perspiration as 
if it had been dipped in water. In vain had I tried to 
learn or collect words of the Bun da, or dialect spoken in 
Angola. I forgot the days of the week and the names of 
my companions, and, had I been asked, I probably could 
not have told my own. The complaint itself occupied 
many of my thoughts. One day I supposed that I had got 
the true theory of it, and would certainly cure the next 
Attack, whether in myself or companions; but some new 
symptoms would appear and scatter all the fine specula- 
tions which had sprung up, with extraordinary fertility, in 
one department of my brain. 

This district is said to contain npward of 40,000 souls. 
Some ten or twelve miles to the north of the village of Am- 
baca there once stood the missionary station of Cahenda; 
and it is now quite astonishing to observe the great num- 
bers who can read and write in this district. This is the 
fruit of the labors of the Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries, 
for they taught the people of Ambaca ; and ever since the 
expulsion of the teachers by the ^larquis of Pombal the 
natives have continued to teach each other. These devoted 
men are still held in high estimation throughout the coun- 
try to this day. All speak well of them, (os padres Jesuitas;) 



244 THE TAMPAN. 

and, now that they are gone from this lower sphere, I could 
not help wishing that these our Bom an Catholic fellow- 
Christians had felt it to be their duty to give the people 
the Bible, to be a light to their feet when the good men 
themselves were gone. 

When sleeping in the house of the commandant, an 
insect, well known in the southern country by the name 
tampan, bit my foot. It is a kind of tick, and chooses by 
preference the parts between the fingers or toes for inflict- 
ing its bite. It is seen from the size of a pin's head to that 
of a pea, and is common in all the native huts in this coun- 
try. It sucks the blood until quite full, and is then of a 
dark-blue color, and its skin so tough and yielding that it 
is impossible to burst it by any amount of squeezing with 
the fingers. I had felt the effects of its bite in former 
years, and eschewed all native huts ever after; but, as I 
was here again assailed in a European house, I shall detail 
the effects of the bite. These are a tingling sensation of 
mingled pain and itching, which commences ascending the 
limb until the poison imbibed reaches the abdomen, where 
it soon causes violent vomiting and purging. Where these 
effects do not follow, as we found afterward at Tete, fever 
sets in ; and I was assured by intelligent Portuguese there 
that death has sometimes been the result of this fever. 
The anxiety my friends at Tete manifested to keep my 
men out of the reach of the tampans of the village made it 
evident that they had seen cause to dread this insignificant 
insect. The only inconvenience I afterward suffered from 
this bite was the continuance of the tingling sensation in 
the point bitten for about a week. 

May 12. — As we were about to start this morning, the 
commandant, Senhor Arsenio, provided bread and meat 
most bountifully for my use on the way to the next sta- 
tion, and sent two militia-soldiers as guides, instead of our 
Cassange corporal, who left us here. About mid-day wo 
asked for shelter from the sun in the house of Senhor Mel- 
lot, at Zangu; and, though I was unable to sit and engage 



CABINDA— GOLUNGO ALTO. 245 

in conversation, I found, on rising from his couch, that he 
had at once proceeded to cook a fowl for my use ; and at 
parting he gave me a glass of wine, which prevented the 
violent fit of shivering I expected that afternoon. The 
universal hospitality of the Portuguese was most gratify- 
ing, as it was quite unexpected ; and even now, as I copy 
my journal, I remember it all with a glow of gratitude. 

We spent Sunday, the 14th of May, at Cabinda, which is 
one of the stations of the sub-commandants, who are placed 
at different points in each district of Angola as assistants 
of the head-commandant, or chefe. It is situated in a 
beautiful glen, and surrounded by plantations of bananas 
and manioc. 

We met numbers of Mambari on their way back to Bihe. 
Some of them had belonged to the parties which had pene- 
trated as far as Linyanti, and foolishly showed their dis- 
pleasure at the prospect of the Makololo preferring to go 
to the coast-markets themselves to intrusting thorn with 
their ivory. The Mambari repeated the tale of the mode 
in which the white men are said to trade. ^' The ivory is 
left on the shore in the evening, and next morning the 
seller finds a quantity of goods placed there in its stead by 
the white men who live on the sea." " JSTow," added they 
to my men, " how can you Makolo trade with these ^ mer- 
men' ? Can you enter into the sea and tell them to come 
ashore V It was remarkable to hear this idea repeated so 
near the sea as we now were. My men replied that they 
only wanted to see for themselves ; and, as they were now 
getting some light on the nature of the trade carried on by 
the Mambari, they were highly amused on perceiving the 
reasons why the Mambari would rather have met them on 
the Zambesi than so near the sea-coast. 

There is something so exhilarating to one of Highland 
blood in being near or on high mountains, that I forgot my 
fever as we wended our way among the lofty tree-covered 
masses of mica schist which form the highlands around the 
romantic residence of the chefe of Golungo Alto. (Lat. 9'' 

21* 



246 CARRIERS. 

8' 30'' S., long. 15° 2' E.) The whole district is extremely 
beautiful. The hills are all bedecked with trees of various 
hues of foliage, and among them towers the graceful palm, 
which yields the oil of commerce for making our soaps and 
the intoxicating toddy. 

We were most kindly received by the commandant, 
Lieutenant Antonio Canto e Castro, a young gentleman 
whose whole subsequent conduct will ever make me re- 
gard him with great aifection. Like every other person 
of intelligence whom I had met, he lamented deeply the 
neglect with which this fine country had been treated. 
This district contained, by the last census, 26,000 hearths 
or fires; and, if to each hearth we reckon four souls, we 
have a population of 104,000. The number of carre- 
gadores (carriers) who may be ordered out at the pleasure 
of Government to convey merchandise to the coast is in 
this district alone about 6000 ; yet there is no good road 
in existence. This system of compulsory carriage of mer- 
chandise was adopted in consequence of the increase in 
numbers and activity of our cruisers which took place in 
1845. Each trader who went, previous to that year, into 
the interior, in the pursuit of his calling, proceeded on the 
plan of purchasing ivory and bees'-wax, and a sufficient 
number of slaves to carry these commodities. The whole 
were intended for exportation as soon as the trader reached 
the coast. But when the more stringent measures of 1845 
came into operation, and rendered the exportation of slaves 
almost impossible, there being no roads proper for the em- 
ployment of wheel-conveyances, this new system of com- 
pulsory carriage of ivory and bees'-wax to the coast was 
resorted to by the Government of Loanda. A trader who 
requires two or three hundred carriers to convey his mer- 
chandise to the coast now applies to the general Govern- 
ment for aid. An order is sent to the commandant of a 
district to furnish the number required. Each head-man 
of the villages to whom the order is transmitted must fur- 
nish from five to twenty or thirty men, according to the 



GOLUNGO ALTO. 247 

proportion that his people bear to the entire population of 
the district. For this accommodation the trader must pay 
a tax to the Government of one thousand reis, or about 
three shillings, per load carried. The trader is obliged to 
pay the carrier also the sum of fifty reis, or about two- 
pence a day, for his sustenance. And, as a day's journey 
is never more than from eight to ten miles, the expense 
which must be incurred for this compulsory labor is felt to 
be heavy by those who were accustomed to employ slave- 
labor alone. Yet no effort has been made to form a great 
line of road for wheel-carriages. The first great want of a 
country has not been attended to, and no development of 
its vast resources has taken place. The fact, however, of 
a change from one system of carriage to another, taken in 
connection with the great depreciation in the price of 
slaves near this coast, proves the effectiveness of our efforts 
at repressing the slave-trade on the ocean. 

The latitude of Golungo Alto, as observed at the re- 
sidence of the commandant, was 9° 8' 30" S., longitude 
15° 2' E. A few days' rest with this excellent young man 
enabled me to regain much of my strength, and I could 
look with pleasure on the luxuriant scenery before his 
door. We were quite shut in among green hills, many of 
which were cultivated up to their tops with manioc, coffee, 
cotton, groundnuts, bananas, pineapples, guavas, papaws, 
custard-apples, pitangas, and jambos, — fruits brought from 
South America by the former missionaries. 

We left Golungo Alto on the 24th of May,— the winter 
in those parts. Every evening clouds come rolling in 
great masses over the mountains in the west, and pealing 
thunder accompanies the fall of rain during the night or 
early in the morning. The clouds generally remain on the 
hills till the morning is well spent, so that we become fami- 
liar with the morning mists, — a thing we never once saw 
at Kolobeng. The thermometer stands at 80° by day, but 
sinks as low as 76° by night. 

In going westward we crossed several fine little gushing 



248 COFFEE-ESTATE. 

streams which never dry. They unite in the Luinha (pro- 
nounced Lueenya) and Lucalla. As they flow over many 
little cascades, they might easily be turned to good account; 
but they are all allowed to run on idly to the ocean. We 
passed through forests of gigantic timber, and, at an open 
space named Cambondo, about eight miles from Golungo 
Alto, found numbers of carpenters converting these lofty 
trees into planks, in exactly the same manner as was fol- 
lowed by the illustrious Eobinson Crusoe. A tree of three 
or four feet in diameter and forty or fifty feet up to the 
nearest branches was felled. It was then cut into lengths 
of a few feet, and split into thick junks, which again were 
reduced to planks an inch thick by persevering labor with 
the axe. The object of the carpenters was to make little 
chests, and they drive a constant trade in them at Cam- 
bondo. When finished with hinges, lock, and key, all of 
their own manufacture, one costs only a shilling and eight- 
pence. My men were so delighted with them that they 
carried several of them on their heads all the way to 
Linyanti. 

At Trombeta we were pleased to observe a great deal of 
taste displayed by the sub-commandant in the laying out 
of his ground and adornment of his house with flowers. 
This trifling incident was the more pleasing, as it was the 
first attempt at neatness I had seen since leaving the esta- 
blishment of Mozinkwa in Londa. Eows of trees had 
been planted along each side of the road, with pineapples 
and flowers between. This arrangement I had an oppor- 
tunity of seeing in several other districts of this country, 
for there is no difliculty in raising any plant or tree if it is 
only kept from being choked by weeds. 

This gentleman had now a fine estate, which but a few 
years ago was a forest and cost him only £16. He had 
planted about nine hundred coffee-trees upon it, and as 
these begin to yield in three years from being planted, and 
in six attain their maximum, I have no doubt but that ere 
now his £16 yields him sixty-fold. All sorts of fruit-trees 



MOSQUITOS. 249 

and grape-vines yield their fruit twice in each year, with- 
out any labor or irrigation being bestowed on thera. All 
grains and vegetables, if only sown, do the same; and, if 
advantage is taken of the mists of winter, even three crops 
of pulse may be raised. Cotton was now standing in the 
pods in his fields, and he did not seem to care about it. I 
understood him to say that this last plant fiourishes, but the 
wet of one of the two rainy seasons with which this coun- 
try is favored sometimes proves troublesome to the grower. 
I am not aware whether wheat has ever been tried, but I 
saw both figs and grapes bearing well. The great com- 
plaint of all cultivators is the want of a good road to carry 
their produce to market. Here all kinds of food are re- 
markably cheap. 

Farther on we left the mountainous country, and, as we 
descended toward the west coast, saw the lands assuming 
a more sterile, uninviting aspect. On our right ran the 
river Senza, which nearer the sea takes the name of Bengo 
It is about fifty yards broad, and navigable for canoes. 
The low plains adjacent to its banks are protected from 
inundation by embankments, and the population is entirely 
occupied in raising food and fruits for exj^ortation to 
Loanda by means of canoes. The banks are infested by 
myriads of the most ferocious mosquitos I ever met. Not 
one of our party could get a snatch of sleep. I was taken 
into the house of a Portuguese, but was soon glad to make 
my escape and lie across the path on the lee side of the 
fire, w^here the smoke blew over my body. My host won- 
dered at my want of taste, and I at his want of feeling; 
for, to our astonishment, he and the other inhabitants had 
actually become used to what was at least equal to a nail 
through the heel of one's boot, or the toothache. 

As we were now drawing near to the sea, my com- 
panions were looking at every thing in a serious light. One 
of them asked me if we should all have an opportunity of 
watching each other at Loanda. " Suppose one went for 
water: would the others see if he were kidnapped?'' I 



250 FEARS OF THE MAKOLOLO. 

replied, "I see what you are driving at; and if you suspect 
me you may return, for I am as ignorant of Loanda as 
you are; but nothing will happen to you but what happens 
to myself. We have stood by each other hitherto, and will 
do so to the last.'' The plains adjacent to Loanda are 
somewhat elevated and comparatively sterile. On coming 
across these we first beheld the sea : my companions 
looked upon the boundless ocean with awe. On describing 
their feelings afterward, they remarked that ^'we marched 
along with our father, believing that what the ancients had 
always told us was true, that the world has no end; but all 
at once the world said to us, 'I am finished: there is no 
more of me !' " They had always imagined that the world 
was one extended plain without limit. 

They were now somewhat apprehensive of suffering 
want, and I was unable to allay their fears with any pro- 
mise of suj)2)ly, for my own mind was depressed by disease 
and care. The fever had induced a state of chronic dys- 
entery so troublesome that I could not remain on the ox 
more than ten minutes at a time ; and as we came down 
the declivity above the city of Loanda on the 31st of May, 
I was laboring under great depression of spirits, as I under- 
stood that, in a population of twelve thousand souls, there 
was but one genuine English gentleman. I naturally felt 
anxious to know whether he were possessed of good-nature, 
or was one of those crusty mortals one would rather not 
meet at all. 

This gentleman, Mr. Gabriel, our commissioner for tbo 
suppression of the slave-trade, had kindly forwarded £.n 
invitation to meet me on the way from Cassange, but, 
unfortunately, it crossed me on the road. When we 
entered his porch, I was delighted to see a number of 
flowers cultivated carefully, and inferred from this circum- 
stance that he was, what I soon discovered him to he, a 
real whole-hearted Englishman. 

Seeing me ill, he benevolently offered me his bed. Never 
shall I forget the luxurious pleasure I enjoyed in feeling 



CONTINUED SICKNESS. 251 

myself again on a good English couch, after six months' 
sleeping on the ground. I was soon asleep; and Mr. Gar 
briel, coming in almost immediately, rejoiced at the sound- 
ness of my repose. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE COMMENCES HIS GREAT JOURNEY ACROSS 

AFRICA. 

In the hope that a short enjoyment of Mr. Gabriel's 
generous hospitality would restore me to my wonted vigor, 
I continued under his roof; but, my complaint having been 
caused by long exposure to malarious influences, I became 
much more reduced than ever, even while enjoying rest. 
Several Portuguese gentlemen called on me shortly after 
my arrival; and the Bishop of Angola, the Eight Eeverend 
Joaquim Moreira Eeis, then the acting governor of the 
province, sent his secretary to do the same, and likewise to 
offer the services of the Government physician. 

Some of her majesty's cruisers soon came into the port, 
and, seeing the emaciated condition to w^hich I was re- 
duced, offered to convey me to St. Helena or homeward ; 
but, though I had reached the coast, I had found that, in 
consequence of the great amount of forest, rivers, and 
marsh, there was no possibility of a highway for wagons, 
and I had brought a party of Sekeletu's people with me, 
and found the tribes near the Portuguese settlement so very 
unfriendly that it would be altogether impossible for my 
men to return alone. I therefore resolved to decline the 
tempting offers of my naval friends, and take back my Mako- 
lolo companions to their chief, with a view of trying to 
make a path from his country to the east coast by means 
of the great river Zambesi or Leeambye. 

I, however, ghidly availed myself of the medical assist- 



252 MAKOLOLO'S VISIT TO THE SHIPS. 

anco of Mr. Cockin, the surgeon of the ^^ Polyphemus," 
at the suggestion of his commander, Captain Phillips. Mr. 
Cockin's treatment, aided by the exhilarating presence 
of the warm-hearted naval officers, and Mr. Gabriel's uii 
wearied hospitality and care, soon brought me round 
ajrain. On the 14th I was so far well as to call on the 
bishop, in company with my party, who were arrayed in 
new robes of striped cotton cloth and red caps, all pre- 
sented to them by Mr. Gabriel. He received us, as head 
of the provisional Government, in the grand hall of the 
palace. He put many intelligent questions respecting the 
Makololo, and then gave them free permission to come to 
Loanda as often as they pleased. This interview pleased 
the Makololo extremely. 

Every one remarked the serious deportment of the 
Makololo. They viewed the large stone houses and 
churches in the vicinity of the great ocean with awe. 
A house with two stories was, until now, beyond their 
comprehension. In explanation of this strange thing, I 
had always been obliged to use the word for hut ; and, as 
huts are constructed by the poles being let into the earth, 
they never could comprehend how the poles of one hut 
could be founded upon the roof of another, or how men 
could live, in the upper story, with the conical roof of the 
lower one in the middle. Some Makololo, who had visited 
my little house at Kolobeng, in trying to describe it to 
their countrymen at Linyanti, said, ^' It is not a hut : it is 
a mountain with several caves in it." 

Commander Bedingfeld and Captain Skene invited them 
to visit their vessels, the "Pluto" and "Philomel.'^ Know- 
ing their fears, I told them that no one need go if he 
entertained the least suspicion of foul play. Nearly the 
whole party went ; and, when on deck, I pointed to the 
sailors, and said, ''Now, these are all my countrymen, sent 
by our queen for the purpose of putting down the trade of 
those that buy and sell black men.'' They replied, " Truly ! 
they are just like you !" and all their fears seemed to 



MAKOLOLO AT MASS. 253 

vanish at once, for they went forward among the men, 
and the jolly tars, acting much as the Makololo would have 
done in similar circumstances, handed them a share of the 
bread and beef which they had for dinner. The com- 
mander allowed them to fire off a cannon ; and, having 
the most exalted ideas of its power, they were greatly 
pleased when I told them, " That is what they put down 
the slave-trade with." The size of the brig-of-war amazed 
them. "It is not a canoe at all: it is a town!" The 
sailors' deck they named " the kotla ;" and then, as a 
climax to their description of this great ark, added, "And 
what sort of a town is it that you must climb up into with 
a rope ?" 

The effect of the politeness of the officers and men on 
their minds was most beneficial. They had behaved with 
the greatest kindness to me all the way from Linyanti, 
and I now rose rapidly in their estimation ; for, whatever 
they may have surmised before, they now saw that I was 
respected among my own countrj^men, and always after- 
ward treated me with the greatest deference. 

On the 15th there was a procession and service of the 
mass in the Cathedral; and, wishing to show my men a 
place of worship, I took them to the church, which now 
serves as the chief one of the see of Angola and Congo. 
There is an impression on some minds that a gorgeous 
ritual is better calculated to inspire devotional feelings 
tlian the simple forms of the Protestant worship. But 
here the frequent genuflexions, changing of positions, 
burning of incense, with the priests' back turned to the 
]jeople, the laughing, talking, and manifest irreverence of 
the singers, with firing of guns, &c., did not convey to the 
minds of my men the idea of adoration. I overheard 
them, 'o talking to each other, remark that "they had 
seen the white men charming their demons;" a phrase 
identical with one they had used when seeing the Balonda 
beating drums before their idols. 

In the beginning of August I suffered a severe relapse, 

22 



254 THEIR JUDGMENT RESPECTING GOODS. 

which reduced me to a mere skeleton. I was then unablo 
to attend to my men for a considerable time ; but, when in 
convalescence from this last attack, I was thankful to find 
that I was free from that lassitude which, in my first 
recovery, showed the continuance of the malaria in the 
system. I found that my men, without prompting, had 
established a brisk trade in firewood. They sallied forth 
at cock-crowing in the morning, and by daylight reached 
the uncultivated parts of the adjacent country, collected 
a bundle of firewood, and returned to the city. It was 
then divided into smaller fagots, and sold to the inhabit- 
ants ; and, as they gave larger q.uantities than the regular 
wood-carriers, they found no difiiculty in selling. A ship 
freighted with coal for the cruisers having arrived from 
England, Mr. Gabriel procured them employment in un- 
loading her at sixpence a day. They continued at this 
work for upward of a month; and nothing could exceed 
their astonishment at the vast amount of cargo one ship 
contained. As they themselves always afterward ex- 
pressed it, they had labored every day from sunrise to 
sunset for a moon and a half, unloading, as quickly as they 
could, "stones that burn,'^ and were tired out, still leaving 
plenty in her. With the money so obtained the}^ purchased 
clothing, beads and other articles to take back to their 
own country. Their ideas of the value of different kinds 
of goods rather astonished those who had dealt only with 
natives on the coast. Hearing it stated with confidence 
that the Africans preferred the thinnest fabrics, provided 
they had gaudy colors and a large extent of surface, the 
idea was so new to my experience in the interior that I 
dissented, and, in order to show the superior good sense 
of the Makololo, took them to the shop of Mr. Schut. 
When he showed them the amount of general goods which 
they might procure at Loanda for a single tusk, I requested 
them, without assigning any reason, to point out ths fabrics 
they prized most. They all at once selected the strongest 
pieces of English calico and other cloths, showing f hat tht^y 



THE BISHOP OF ANGOLA. 255 

had regard to strength without reference to color. I believe 
that most of the Bechuana nation would have done the 
same. But I was assured that the people near the coast, 
with whom the Portuguese have to deal, have not so much 
regard to durability. This probably arises from calico 
being the chief circulating-medium, — quantity being then 
of more importance than quality. 

During the period of my indisposition, the bishop sent 
frequently to make inquiries, and as soon as I was able to 
walk I went to thank him for his civilities. His whole 
conversation and conduct showed him to be a man of great 
benevolence and kindness of heart. Alluding to my being 
a Protestant, he stated that he was a Catholic from convic- 
tion; and though sorry to see others, like myself, following 
another path, he entertained no uncharitable feelings, nor 
would he ever sanction persecuting measures. He com- 
pared the various sects of Christians, in their way to 
heaven, to a number of individuals qhoosing to pass down 
the different streets of Loanda to one of the churches : all 
would arrive at the same point at last. His good influence, 
both in the city and the country, is universally acknow- 
ledged : he was promoting the establishment of schools, 
which, though formed more on the monastic principle than 
Protestants might approve, will no doubt be a blessing. He 
was likewise successfully attempting to abolish the non- 
marriage custom of the country; and several marriages 
had taken place in Loanda among those who, but for bis 
teaching, would have been content with concubinage. 

St. Paul de Loanda has been a very considerable city, 
but is now in a state of decay. It contains about twelve 
thousand inhabitants, most of whom are people of color.* 

* From the census of 1850-51 v^e find the population of this city 
arranged thus : — 830 "<yhites, only 160 of whom are females. This is the 
largest collecti'^i. of whites in the country, for Angola itself contains only 
about 1000 whites. There are 2400 half-castes in Loanda, and only 120 
of them slaves ; and there ai*e 9000 blacks, more than 5000 of whom are 
slaves 



256 ST. PAUL DE LOANDA. 

There are various evidences of its former magnificence, 
especially two cathedrals, one of which, once a Jesuit 
college, is now converted into a workshop ; and in passing 
the other we saw with sorrow a number of oxen feeding 
within its stately walls. Three forts continue in a good 
state of repair. Many large stone houses are to be found. 
The palace of the governor and Government offices are 
commodious structures, but nearly all the houses of the 
native inhabitants are of wattle and daub. Trees are 
planted all over the town for the sake of shade, and the 
city presents an imposing appearance from the sea. It is 
provided with an effective police, and the custom-house 
department is extremely well managed. All parties agree 
in representing the Portuguese authorities as both polite 
and obliging ; and, if ever any inconvenience is felt by 
strangers visiting the port, it must be considered the fault 
of the system, and not of the men. 

The harbor is formed by the low, sandy island of Loanda, 
-which is inhabited by about 1300 souls, upward of 600 of 
whom are industrious native fishermen, who supply the 
city with abundance of good fish daily. The space between 
it and the mainland, on which the city is built, is the 
station for ships. When a high southwest wind blows, 
the waves of the ocean dash over part of the island, and, 
driving large quantities of sand before them, gradually fill 
up the harbor. Great quantities of soil are also washed 
in the rainy season from the heights above the city, so that 
the port, w^hich once contained water sufiicient to float the 
largest ships close to the custom-house, is now at low-water 
dry. The ships are compelled to anchor about a mile north 
of their old station. Nearly all the water consumed in 
Loanda is brought from the river Bengo by means of 
launches, the only supply that the city aftbrds being from 
some deep wells of slightly-brackish water. Unsuccessful 
attempts have been made by different governors to finish a 
canal which the Dutch, while in possession of Loanda 
during the seven years preceding 1648, had begun, to bring 



CUSTOM-HOUSE ARRANGEMENTS. 257 

water from the river Coanza to the city. There is not a 
single English merchant at Loanda^ and only two American. 
This is the more remarkable as nearly all the commerce is 
carried on by means of English calico brought hither via 
Lisbon. Several English houses attempted to establish a 
trade about 1845, and accepted bills on Rio de Janeiro in 
payment for their goods; but the increased activity of our 
cruisers had such an effect upon the mercantile houses of 
that city that most of them failed. The English merchants 
lost all, and Loanda f;ot a bad name in the commercial 
world in consequence. 

One of the arrangements of the custom-house may have 
had some influence in preventing English trade. Ships 
coming here must be consigned to some one on the spot; 
the consignee receives one hundred dollars per mast, and 
he generally makes a great deal more for himself by put- 
ting a percentage on boats and men hired for loading and 
unloading, and on every item that passes through his hands, 
The port-charges are also rendered heavy by twenty dollars 
being charged as a perquisite of the secretary of Govern- 
ment, with a fee for the chief physician, something for the 
hospital, custom-house officers, guards, &c. &c. But, with 
all these drawbacks, the Americans carry on a brisk and 
profitable trade in calico, biscuit, flour, butter, &c, &c. 

The Portuguese home Government has not generally re- 
ceived the credit for sincerity in suppressing the slave-trade 
which I conceive to be its due. In 1839, my friend Mr. 
Gabriel saw thirty-seven slave-ships lying in this harbor, 
waiting for their cargoes, under the protection of the guns 
of the forts. At that time slavers had to wait many 
months at a time for a human freight, and a certain sum 
per head was paid to the Government for all that were ex- 
ported. The duties derived from the exportation of slaves 
far exceeded those from other commerce, and, by agreeing 
to the suppression of this profitable traffic, the Government 
actually sacrificed the chief part of the export-revenue. 
Since that period, however, the revenue frjm lawful com* 
R 22* 



258 CONVICT SOLDlKi:S. 

tnerce has very much exceeded that on slaves. The inten- 
tions of the home Portuguese Government, however good, 
cannot be fully carried out under the present system. 
The pay of the officers is so very small that they are nearly 
all obliged to engage in trade; and, owing to the lucrative 
nature of the slave-trade, the temptation to engage in it is 
80 powerful that the philanthropic statesmen of Lisbon 
need hardly expect to have their humane and enlightened 
views carried out. The law, for instance, lately promul- 
gated for the abolition of the carrier-system (carregadores) 
is but one of several equally humane enactments against 
this mode of compulsory labor, but there is very little pro- 
bability of the benevolent intentions of the legislature 
being carried into effect. 

Loanda is regarded somewhat as a penal settlement, and 
those who leave their native land for this country do so 
with the hope of getting rich in a few years and then re- 
turning home. They have thus no motive for seeking the 
permanent welfare of the country. The Portuguese law 
preventing the subjects of any other nation from holding 
landed property unless they become naturalized, the country 
has neither the advantage of native nor foreign enterprise, 
and remains very much in the same state as our allies found 
it in 1575. Nearly all the European soldiers sent out are 
convicts, and, contrary to what might be expected from 
men in their position, behave remarkably well. A few 
riots have occurred, but nothing at all so serious as have 
taken place in our own penal settlements. It is a remark- 
able fact that the whole of the arms of Loanda are every 
night in the hands of those who have been convicts. 
Various reasons for this mild behavior are assigned by 
the officers, but none of these, when viewed in connection 
with our own experience in Australia, appear to be valid. 
Religion seems to have no connection with the change. 
Perhaps the climate may have some influence in subduing 
their turbulent disposition, for the inhabitants generally 
ftre a timid race : they are not half so brave as our Caffrea. 



PRESENTS FOR SEKELETU. 259 

The people of Ambriz ran away like a flock of sheep, and 
allowed the Portuguese to take possession of their copper- 
mines and country without striking a blow. If we must have 
convict-settlements, attention to the climate might be of 
advantage in the selection. Here even bulls are much 
tamer than with ns. I never met with a ferocious one in 
this country, and the Portuguese use them generally for 
riding : an ox is seldom seen. 

The objects which I had in view in opening up the 
country, as stated in a few notes of my journey published 
in the newspapers of Angola, so commended themselves to 
the general Government and merchants of Loanda, that, 
at the instance of his excellency the bishop, a handsome 
present for Sekeletu was granted by the Board of Public 
Works, (Junta da Fazenda Publica.) It consisted of a 
colonel's complete uniform and a horse for the chief, and 
suits of clothing for all the men who accompanied me. The 
merchants also made a present, by public subscription, of 
handsome specimens of all their articles of trade, and two 
donkeys, for the purpose of introducing the breed into his 
country, as tsetse cannot kill this beast of burden. These 
presents were accompanied by letters from the bishop and 
merchants; and I was kindly favored with letters of recom- 
mendation to the Portuguese authorities in Eastern Africa. 

I took with me a good stock of cotton cloth, fresh sup- 
plies of ammunition and beads, and gave each of my men 
a musket. As my companions had amassed considerable 
Quantities of goods, they were unable to carry mine; but 
the bishop furnished me with twenty carriers, and sent for- 
ward orders to all the commandants of the districts through 
which we were to pass to render me every assistance in 
their power. Being now supplied with a good new tent 
made by my friends on board the Philomel, we left Loanda 
on the 20th of September, 1854, and passed round by sea 
to the mouth of the river Bengo. Ascending this river, we 
went through the district in which stand the ruins of the 
Convent of St. Antonio; thence into IcoUo i Bengo, which 



260 SPINNING AND WEAVING. 

contains a population of 6530 blacks, 172 mulattoes, and 11 
whites, and is so named from having been the residence of 
a former native king. The proportion of slaves is only 
8.38 per cent, of the inhabitants. The commandant of this 
place, Laurence Jose Marquis, is a frank old soldier and a 
most hospitable man : he is one of the few who secure the 
universal approbation of their fellow-men for stern unflinch- 
ing honesty, and has risen from the ranks to be a major in 
the army. "We were accompanied thus far by our generous 
host, Edmund Gabriel, Esq., who, by his unwearied atten- 
tions to myself, and liberality in supporting my men, had 
become endeared to all our hearts. My men were strongly 
impressed with a sense of his goodness, and often spoke of 
him in terms of admiration all the way to Linyanti. 

28^A September, Kalungwemho. — We were still on the same 
path by which we had come, and, there being no mosqui- 
tos, we could now better enjoy the scenery. Eanges of 
hills occupy both sides of our path, and the fine level road 
is adorned with a beautiful red flower named Bolcamaria. 
The markets or sleeping-places are well supplied with pro- 
visions by great numbers of women, every one of whom is 
seen spinning cotton with a spindle and distaff exactly like 
those which were in use among the ancient Egj^ptians. A 
woman is scarcely ever seen going to the fields — though 
with a pot on her head, a child on her back, and the hoe 
over her shoulder — but she is employed in this way. The 
cotton was brought to the market for sale, and I bought a 
pound for a penny. This was the price demanded, and 
probably double what they ask from each other. "We saw 
the cotton growing luxuriantly all around the market- 
places from seeds dropped accidentally. It is seen also 
about the native huts, and, so far as I could learn, it was 
the American cotton, so influenced by climate as to be 
perennial. We met in the road natives passing with bun- 
dles of cops, or spii>i]es full of cotton thread, and these 
they were carrying i> other parts to be woven nito cloth. 
The women are the spinners, and the men perform the 



COFFEE-PLANTATIONS. 261 

weaving. Each web is about five feet long, and fifteen or 
eighteen inches wide. The loom is of the simplest construc- 
tion, being nothing but two beams placed one over the other, 
the web standing perpendicularly. The threads of the web 
are separated by means of a thin wooden lath, and the 
woof passed through by means of the spindle on which it 
has been wound in spinning. 

Numbers of other articles are brought ^r sale to these 
sleeping-places. The native smiths there carry on their 
trade. I bought ten very good table-knives, made of 
country iron, for twopence each. 

Labor is extremely cheap, for I was assured that even 
carpenters, masons, smiths, &c. might be hired for four- 
pence a day; and agriculturists would gladly work for half 
that sum. 

Being anxious to obtain some more knowledge of this in- 
teresting country and its ancient missionary-establishments 
than the line of route by which we had come afforded, 1 
resolved to visit the town of Massangano, which is situated 
to the south of Golungo Alto and at the confluence of the 
rivers Lucalla and Coanza. This led me to pass through 
the district of Cazengo, which is rather famous for the 
abundance and excellence of its coffee. Extensive coffee- 
plantations were found to exist on the sides of the seve- 
ral lofty mountains that compose this district. They were 
not planted by the Portuguese. The Jesuit and other mis- 
sionaries are known to have brought some of the fine old 
Mocha seed, and these have propagated themselves far and 
wide ; hence the excellence of the Angola coffee. Some 
have asserted that, as new plantations were constantly dis- 
covered even during the period of our visit, the coffee-treo 
was indigenous; but the fact that pineapples, bananas, 
yams, orange-trees, custard-apple-trees, pitangas, guavas, 
and other South American trees were found by me in the 
same localities with the recently-discovered coffee would 
seem to indicate that all foreign trees must have been 
introduced by the same agency. It is known that the 



262 RUINS OF IRON-FOUNDRY. 

Jesuits also introduced many other trees for the sake of 
their timber alone. Numbers of these have spread over 
the country; some have probably died out and others failed 
to spread, like a lonely specimen that stands in what was 
the Botanic Garden of Loanda, and, though most useful 
in yielding a substitute for frankincense, is the only one 
of the kind in Africa. 

Accompanied by the commandant of Cazengo, who was 
well acquainted with this part of the country, I pro- 
ceeded in a canoe down the river Lucalla to Massangano. 
This river is about eighty-five yards wide, and navigable for 
canoes from its confluence with the Coanza to about six 
miles above the point where it receives the Luinha. Near 
this latter point stand the strong, massive ruins of an iron- 
foundry erected in the times (1768) and by the order of tho 
ftimous Marquis of Pombal. The whole of the buildings 
were constructed of stone cemented with oil and lime. The 
dam for water-power was made of the same materials, and 
twenty-seven feet high. This had been broken through by 
a flood, and solid blocks, many yards in length, were carried 
down the stream, aff'ording an instructive example of the 
transporting-power of water. There was nothing in the 
appearance of the place to indicate unhealthiness; but 
eight Spanish and Swedish workmen, being brought hither 
for the purpose of instructing the natives in the art of 
smelting iron, soon fell victims to disease and " irregulari- 
ties." The effort of the marquis to improve the mode of 
manufacturing iron was thus rendered abortive. Labor 
and subsistence are, however, so very cheap that almost 
any amount of work can be executed at a cost that renders 
expensive establishments unnecessary. 

A party of native miners and smiths are still kept in the 
employment of the Government, who, working the rich, 
black, magnetic iron-ore, produce for the Government from 
180 to 500 bars of good malleable iron every month. They 
are supported by the appropriation of a few thousands of a 
small fresh- water fish, called "Cacusu/' a portion of the tax 



MASSANGANO. 263 

levied upon the fishermen of the Coanza. This fish is so 
much relished in the country that those who do not wish 
to eat them can easily convert them into money. The 
commandant of the district of Massangano, for instance, 
has a right to a dish of three hundred every morning, as 
part of his salary. Shell-fish are also found in the Coanza, 
and the " Peixemulher," or woman-fish of the Portuo-uese, 
which is probably a Manatee. 

We found the town of Massangano on a tongue of rather 
high land formed by the left bank of the Lucalla and right 
bank of the Coanza, and received true Portuguese hospi- 
tality from Senhor Lubata. The town has more than a 
thousand inhabitants : the district has 28,063, with only 
315 slaves. 

Massangano district is well adapted for sugar and rice, 
while Cambambe is a very superior field for cotton ; but 
the bar at the mouth of the Coanza would prevent the ap- 
proach of a steamer into this desirable region, though a 
small one could ply on it with ease when once in. 

The latitude of the town and fort of Massangano is 9° 
87' 46" S., being nearly the same as that of Cassange. The 
country between Loanda and this point being compara- 
tively flat, a railroad might be constructed at small ex- 
pense. The level country is prolonged along the north 
bank of the Coanza to the edge of the Cassange basin, and 
a railway carried thither would be convenient for the trans- 
port of the products of the rich districts of Cassange, 
Pungo Andongo, Ambaca, Cambambe, Golungo Alto, Ca- 
zengo, Muchima, and Calumbo, — in a word, the whole of 
Angola and independent tribes adjacent to this kingdom. 

Returning by ascending the Lucalla into Cazengo, wo 
had an opportunity of visiting several flourishing coffee- 
plantations, and observed that several men, who had begun 
with no capital but honest industry, had in the course of 
a few years acquired a comfortable subsistence. One of 
these, Mr. Pinto, generously furnished me with a good 
supply of his excellent coffee, and my men with a breed 



264 FEVER — INSANITY. 

of rabbits to carry to their own country. Their lands, 
granted by Government, yielded, without much labor, coffee 
sufficient for all the necessaries of life. 

On returning to Golungo Alto, I found several of my men 
laid up with fever. One of the reasons for my leaving 
them there was that they might recover from the fatigue 
of the journey from Loanda, which had much more effect 
upon their feet than hundreds of miles had on our way west- 
ward. They had always been accustomed to moisture in 
their own well-watered land, and we certainly had a super- 
abundance of that in Loanda. The roads, however, from 
Loanda to Golungo Alto were both hard and dry, and they 
suffered severely in consequence ; yet they were composing 
songs to be sung when they should roach home. The 
Argonauts were nothing to themj and they remarked very 
impressively to me, ^'It was well you came with Makololo; 
for no tribe could have done what we have accomplished 
in coming to the white man's country : we are the true 
ancients, who can tell wonderful things." Two of them 
now had fever in the continued form, and became jaun- 
diced, the whites or conjunctival membrane of their eyes 
becoming as yellow as saffron ; and a third suffered from 
an attack of mania. He came to his companions one day, 
and said, " Eemain well. I am called away by the gods V 
and set off at the top of his speed. The young men caught 
liim before he had gone a mile, and bound him. By gentle 
treatment and watching for a few days he recovered. I 
have observed several instances of this kind in the country, 
but very few cases of idiocy; and I believe that continued 
insanity is rare. 



DESERTED CONVENT. 265 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

DR LIVINGSTONE VISITS PUNGO ANDONGO. 

While waiting for the recovery of my meo, I visited, in 
company with my friend Mr. Canto, the deserted Convent 
of St. Hilarion, at Bango, a few miles northwest of Golungo 
Alto. It is situated in a magnificent valley, containing a 
population numbering 4000 hearths. This is the abode of 
the Sova, or Chief Bango, who still holds a place of autho- 
rity under the Portuguese. The garden of the convent, 
the church, and dormitories of the brethren are still kept 
in a good state of repair. I looked at the furniture, couches, 
and large chests for holding the provisions of the brother- 
hood with interest, and would fain have learned something 
of the former occupants; but all the books and sacred 
vessels had lately been removed to Loanda, and even the 
graves of the good men stand without any record : their 
resting-places are, however, carefully tended. All speak 
well of the Jesuits and other missionaries, as the Capuchins, 
&c., for having attended diligently to the instruction of the 
children. They were supposed to have a tendency to take 
the part of the people against the Government, and were 
supplanted by priests, concerning whom no regret is ex- 
pressed that they were allowed to die out. In viewing the 
present fruits of former missions, it is impossible not to 
feel assured that, if the Jesuit teaching has been so per- 
manent, that of Protestants, who leave the Bible in the 
hands of their converts, will not be less abiding. 

The chief recreations of the natives of Angola are mar- 
riages and funerals. When a young woman is about to be 
married, she is placed in a hut alone and anointed with 
various unguents, and many incantations are employed in 
order to secure good fortune and fruitfulness. Here, as almost 
everywhere in the south, the height of good fortune is to 

23 



2G6 MARRIAGES AND FUNERALS. 

bear sons. They often leave a husband altogether if they 
have daughters only. In their dances, when any one may 
wish to deride another, in the accompanying song a line is 
introduced, " So and so has no children, and never will get 
any." She feels the insult so keenly that it is not uncom- 
mon for her to rush away and commit suicide. After some 
days the bride elect is taken to another hut, and adorned 
with all the richest clothing and ornaments that the rela- 
tives can either lend or borrow. She is then placed in a 
pubhc situation, saluted as a lady, and presents made by 
all her acquaintances are placed around her. After this 
she is taken to the residence of her husband, where she 
has a hut for herself, and becomes one of several wives, — for 
polygamy is general. Dancing, feasting, and drinking on 
such occasions are prolonged for several days. In case of 
separation, the woman returns to her father's family, and 
the husband receives back what he gave for her. In nearly 
all cases a man gives a price for the wife, and in cases of 
mulattoes as much as £60 is often given to the parents of 
the bride. This is one of the evils the bishop was trying 
to remedy. 

In cases of death the body is kept several days ; and there 
is a grand concourse of both sexes, with beating of drums, 
dances, and debauchery, kept up with feasting, &c., accord- 
ing to the means of the relative. The great ambition of 
many of the blacks of Angola is to give their friends an 
expensive funeral. Often, when one is asked to sell a pig. 
he replies, "I am keeping it in case of the death of any of 
my friends." A pig is usually slaughtered and eaten on 
the last day of the ceremonies, and its head thrown into 
the nearest stream or river. A native will sometimes 
appear intoxicated on these occasions, and, if blamed for 
his intemperance, will reply, " Why, my mother is dead!" 
as if he thought it a sufficient justification. The expenses 
of funerals are so heavy that often years elapse before they 
can defray them. 

These people are said to be very litigious and obstinate : 



MISCONDUCT OF SLAVES. 267 

constant disputes are taking place respecting their lands. 
A case came before the weekly court of the commandant 
involving propert}^ in a palm-tree worth twopence. The 
judge advised the pursuer to withdraw the case, as the 
mere expenses of entering it would be much more than the 
cost of the tree. " Oh, no," said he; ''I have a piece of 
calico with me for the clerk, and money for yourself. It's 
my right : I will not forego it." The calico itself cost 
three or four shillings. They rejoice if they can say of an 
enemy, ^^I took him before the court." 

My friend Mr. Canto, the commandant, being seized with 
fever in a severe form, it afforded me much pleasure to attend 
Mm in his sickness who had been so kind to me in mine 
He was for some time in a state of insensibility ; and I, 
having the charge of his establishment, had thus an oppor- 
tunity of observing the workings of slavery. When a 
master is ill, the slaves run riot among the eatables. I did 
not know this until I observed that every time the sugar- 
basin came to the table it was empty. On visiting my 
patient by night, 1 passed along a corridor, and unexpect- 
edly came upon the washerwoman eating pineapples and 
sugar. All the sweetmeats were devoured, and it was 
difficult for me to get even bread and butter until I took 
the precaution of locking the pantry-door. Probably the 
slaves thought that, as both they and the luxuries were the 
master's property, there was no good reason why they 
should be kept apart. 

Debarred by my precaution from these sources of enjoy- 
ment, they took to killing the fowls and goats, and, when 
the animal was dead, brought it to me, saying, "Wo 
found this thing lying out there." They then enjoyed a 
feast of flesh. A feeling of insecurity prevails throughout 
this country. It is quite common to furnish visitors with 
the keys of their rooms. When called on to come to break- 
fast or dinner, each locks his door and puts the key in his 
pocket. At Kolobeng we never locked our doors by night 
or by day for months together; but there slavery is un- 



268 LOSS OF COTTON-SEED. 

known. The Portuguese do not seem at all bigoted in 
their attachment to slavery, nor yet in their prejudices 
against color. Mr. Canto gave an entertainment in order 
to draw all classes together and promote general good-will. 
Two sovas or native chiefs were present, and took their 
places without the least appearance of embarrassment. 
The Sova of Kilombo appeared in the dress of a general, 
and the Sova of Bango was gayly attired in a red coat 
profusely ornamented with tinsel. The latter had a band 
of musicians with him, consisting of six trumpeters and 
four drummers, who performed very well. These men are 
fond of titles, and the Portuguese Government humors 
them by conferring honorary captaincy, &c. : the Sova of 
Bango was at present anxious to obtain the title of ^^ Major 
of all the Sovas." At the tables of other gentlemen I 
observed the same thing constantly occurring. At this 
meeting Mr. Canto communicated some ideas which I had 
written out on the dignity of labor and the superiority of 
free over slave labor. The Portuguese gentlemen present 
were anxiously expecting an arrival of American cotton- 
seed from Mr. Grabriel. They are now in the transition- 
state from unlawful to lawful trade, and turn eagerly to 
cotton, coffee, and sugar as new sources of wealth. Mr. 
Canto had been commissioned by them to purchase three 
sugar-mills. Our cruisers have been the principal agents 
in compelling them to abandon the slave-trade; and our 
Government, in furnishing them with a suj^ply of cotton- 
seed, showed a generous intention to aid them in com- 
mencing a more honorable course. It can scarcely be 
believed, however, that after Lord Clarendon had been at 
the trouble of procuring fresh cotton-seed through our 
minister at Washington, and had sent it out to the eare of 
H. M. Commissioner at Loan da, probably from having 
fallen into the hands of a few incorrigible slave-traders, it 
never reached its destination. It was most likely cast into 
»the sea of Ambriz, and my friends at Golungo Alto were 
left without the means of commencing a new enterprise. 



ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. 269 

Mr. Canto mentioned that there is now much more cot- 
ton in the country than can be consumed; and if he had 
possession of a few hundred pounds he would buy up all 
the oil and cotton at a fair price, and thereby bring about 
a revolution in the agriculture of the country. These 
commodities are not produced in greater quantity, because 
the people have no market for those which now spring 
up almost spontaneously around them. The above was 
put down in my journal when I had no idea that enlarged 
supplies of cotton from new sources were so much needed 
at home. 

It is common to cut down cotton-trees as a nuisance, 
and cultivate beans, potatoes, and manioc sufficient only 
for their own consumption. I have the impression that 
cotton, which is deciduous in America, is perennial here ; 
for the plants I saw in winter were not dead, though going 
by the name Algodao Americana, or American cotton. The 
rents paid for gardens belonging to the old convents are 
merely nominal, varying from one shilling to three pounds 
per annum. The higher rents being realized from those 
in the immediate vicinity of Loanda, none but Portuguese 
or half-castes can pay them. 

When about to start, the horse which the governor had 
kindly presented for Sekeletu was seized with inflamma- 
tion, which delayed us some time longer; and we ultimately 
lost it. 

Novemler 20. — An eclipse of the sun, which I had 
anxiously hoped to observe with a view of determining 
the longitude, happened this morning, and, as often took 
place in this cloudy climate, the sun was covered four 
minutes before it began. When it shone forth, the eclipse 
was in progress, and a few minutes before it should 
(according to my calculations) have ended the sun was 
again completely obscured. The greatest patience and 
perseverance are required if one wishes to ascertain his 
position when it is the rainy season. 

Before leaving, I had an opportunity of observing a 

23* 



1570 INSECTS WHICH DISTIL WATER. 

curious insect, which inhabits trees of the fig family, 
' Ficus,) upward of twenty species of which are found 
here. Seven or eight of them cluster round a spot on one 
of the smaller branches, and there keep up a constant dis- 
tillation of a clear fluid, which, dropping to the ground, 
forms a little puddle below. If a vessel is placed under 
them in the evening, it contains three or four pints of fluid 
in the morning. The natives say that if a drop falls into 
the eyes it causes inflammation of these organs. To the 
question, whence is this fluid derived, the people reply that 
the insects suck it out of the tree; and our own natu- 
ralists give the same answer. I have never seen an orifice, 
and it is scarcely possible that the tree can yield so much. 
A similar but much smaller homopterous insect, of the 
family Cercopidce, is known in England as the frog-hopper, 
(Aphrophora spumaria,) when full grown and furnished 
with wings, but while still in the pupa state it is called 
" Cuckoo-spit/' from the mass of froth in which it envelops 
itself The circulation of sap in plants in our climate, 
especially of the graminacese, is not quick enough to yield 
much moisture. The African species is five or six times 
the size of the English. In the case of branches of the 
fig-tree, the point the insects congregate on is soon marked 
by a number of incipient roots, such as are thrown out 
when a cutting is inserted in the ground for the purpose 
of starting another tree. I believe that both the English 
and African insects belong to the same family, and diff'er 
only in size, and that the chief part of the moisture is 
derived from the atmosphere. I leave it for naturalists to 
explain how these little creatures distil both by night and 
day as much water as they please, and are more indepen- 
dent than her majesty's steamships with their apparatus 
for condensing steam; for, without coal, their abundant 
supplies of sea-water are of no avail. I tried the following 
experiment. Finding a colony of these insects busily dis- 
tilling on a branch of the Ricinus communis^ or castor-oil 
plant, I denuded about twenty inches of the bark on the tree- 



EXPERIMENTS. 2/ I 

Bide of the insects, and scraped away the inner bark, so as 
to destroy all the ascending vessels. I also cut a hole in 
the side of the branch, reaching to the middle, and then 
cut out the pith and internal vessels. The distillation 
was then going on at the rate of one drop each sixty-seven 
seconds, or about 2 ounces 5J drachms in twenty-four 
hours. Next morning the distillation, so far from being 
aflfected by the attempt to stop the sujDplies, supposing 
they had come up through the branch from the tree, was 
increased to a drop every five seconds, or twelve drops 
per minute, making one pint (16 ounces) in every twenty- 
four hours. I then cut the branch so much that, during 
the day, it broke ; but they still went on at the rate of a 
drop every five seconds, while another colony on a branch 
of the same tree gave a drop every seventeen seconds 
only, or at the rate of about 10 ounces 4| drachms in 
twenty-four hours. I finally cut off the branch ; but this 
was too much for their patience, for they immediately 
decamped, as insects will do from either a dead branch or 
a dead animal, — which Indian hunters soon know when 
they sit down on a recently-killed bear. The presence of 
greater moisture in the air increased the power of these 
distillers : the period of greatest activity was in the morn- 
ing, when the air and every thing else was charged with 
dew. 

Having but one day left for experiment, I found again 
that another colony on a branch denuded in the same way 
yielded a drop every two seconds, or 4 pints 10 ounces in 
twenty-four hours, while a colony on a branch untouched 
yielded a drop every eleven seconds, or 16 ounces 2J§ 
drachms in twenty-four hours. I regretted somewhat the 
want of time to institute another experiment, namely, 
to cut a branch and place it in water, so as to keep It in 
Lfe, and then observe if there was any diminution of the 
quantity of water in the vessel. This alone was wanting 
to make it certain that they draw water from the atmo- 
sphere. I imagine that they have some power of which wo 



272 ARRIVAL AT AMBACA. 

are not aware, besides that nervous influence which c&nt.B 
constant motion to our own involuntary muscles, tne 
power of life-long action without fatigue. The reader will 
remember, in connection with this insect, the case of the 
ants already mentioned. 

December 14, — Both myself and men having recovered 
from severe attacks of fever, we left the hospitable resi- 
dence of Mr. Canto with a deep sense of his kindness to 
us all, and proceeded on our way to Ambaca. (Lat. 9° 16' 
85" S., long. 15° 23' E.) 

Owing to the weakness of the men who had been sick, 
we were able to march but short distances. Three hours 
and a half brought us to the banks of the Caloi, a small 
stream which flows into the Senza. 

We found, on reaching Ambaca, that the gallant old 
soldier, Laurence Jose Marquis, had, since our passing 
Icollo 1 Bengo, been promoted, on account of his stern 
integrity, to the government of this important district. 
The office of commandant is much coveted by the officers 
of the line who come to Angola, not so much for the salary 
as for the perquisites, which, when managed skilfully, in 
the course of a few years make one rich. 

Before leaving Ambaca we received a present of ten head 
of cattle from Mr. Schut of Loanda; and, as it shows the 
cheapness of provisions here, I may mention that the cost 
was only about a guinea per head. 

On crossing the Lucalla we made a detour to the south, 
in order to visit the famous rocks of Pungo Andongo. As 
soon as we crossed the rivulet Lotete, a change in the 
vegetation of the country was apparent. We found trees 
identical with those to be seen south of the Chobe. The 
grass, too, stands in tufts, and is of that kind which the 
natives consider to be best adapted for cattle. Two species 
of grape-bearing vines abound everywhere in this district, 
and the influence of the good pasturage is seen in the plump 
condition of the cattle. In all my previous inquiries re- 
specting the vegetable products of Angola, I was invariably 



PUNGO ANDONGO. 273 

directed to Pungo Andongo. "Do you grow wheat?" — • 
" Oh, yes, in Pungo Andongo." " Grapes, figs, or peaches ?" 
— ^'Oh, yes, in Pungo Andongo." "Do you make butter, 
cheese, &c. ?" The uniform answer was, " Oh, yes : there 
is abundance of all these in Pungo Andongo." But when 
we arrived here we found that the answers all referred to 
the activity of one man, Colonel Manuel Antonio Pires. 
The presence of the wild grape shows that vineyai'ds might 
be cultivated with success; the wheat grows well without 
irrigation; and any one who tasted the butter and cheese 
at the table of Colonel Pires would prefer them to the 
stale produce of the Irish dairy in general use throughout 
that province. The cattle in this country are seldom 
milked, on account of the strong prejudice which the Por- 
tuguese entertain against the use of milk. They believe 
that it may be used with safety in the morning, but, if 
taken after mid-day, that it will cause fever. It seemed 
to me that there was not much reason for carefully avoid- 
ing a few drops in their coffee after having devoured ten 
times the amount in the shape of cheese at dinner. 

The fort of Pungo Andongo (lat. 9° 42' 14" S., long. 15^ 
30' E.) is situated in the midst of a group of curious 
columnar-shaped rocks, each of which is upward of three 
hundred feet in height. They are composed of conglome- 
rate, made up of a great variety of rounded pieces in a 
matrix of dark red sandstone. They rest on a thick stra- 
tum of this last rock, with very few of the pebbles in its 
substance. On this a fossil palm has been found, and if of 
tne same age as those on the eastern side of the continent 
on which similar palms now lie, there may be coal under- 
neath this, as well as under that of Tete. The asserted 
existence of petroleum-springs at Dande, and near Cam- 
bambe, would seem to indicate the presence of this useful 
mineral, though I am not aware of any one having actually 
Been a seam of coal tilted up to the surface in Angola, as 
we have at Tete. The gigantic pillars of Pungo Andongo 
have been formed by a current of the sea coming from thd 

a 



274 rUNGO ANDONGO. 

S.S.E.; for, seen from the top, they appear arranged in that 
direction, and must have withstood the surges of the ocean 
at a period of our world's history when the relations of 
land and sea were totally different from what they are now, 
and long before '' the morning stars sang together, and all 
the sons of God shouted for joy to see the abodes prepared 
which man was soon to fill/' The embedded j^ieces in 
the conglomerate are of gneiss, clay shale, mica and sand- 
stone schists, trap, and porphyry, most of which are large 
enough to give the whole the appearance of being the 
only remaining vestiges of vast primeval banks of shin- 
gle. Several little streams run among these rocks, and 
in the central part of the pillars stands the village, com- 
pletely environed by wellnigh-inaccessible rocks. The 
pathways into the village might be defended by a small 
body of troops against an army; and this place was long 
the stronghold of the tribe called Jinga, the original pos- 
sessors of the country. 

In former times the Portuguese imagined that this place 
was particularly unhealthy, and banishment to the black 
rocks of Pungo Andongo was thought by their judges to 
be a much severer sentence than transportation to any 
part of the coast ; but this district is now well known to 
be the most healthy part of Angola. The water is remark- 
ably pure, the soil is light, and the country 02)en and undu- 
lating, with a general slope down toward the river Coanza, 
a few miles distant. That river is the southern boundary 
of the Portuguese, and beyond, to the S. and S.W., we see 
the high mountains of the Libollo. On the S.E. we have 
also a mountainous country, inhabited by the Kimbonda or 
A.mbonda, who are said by Colonel Pires to be a very bravo 
and independent people, but hospitable and fair in their 
dealings. They are rich in cattle, and their country pro- 
duces much bees'-wax, which is carefully collected and 
brought to the Portuguese, with whom they have always 
been on good terms. 

The Ako, (Hako,) a branch of this family, inhabit the 



A MERCHANT-PRINCE. 275 

left bank of the Coanza above this village, who, instead 
of bringing slaves for sale, as formerly, now occasionally 
bring wax for the purchase of a slave from the Portuguese. 
I saw a boy sold for twelve shillings : he said that he be- 
longed to the country of Matiamvo. Here I bought a pair 
of well-made boots, of good tanned leather, which reached 
above the knee, for five shillings and eightpence, and that 
was just the price given for one pound of ivory by Mr. 
Pires : consequently, the boy was worth two pairs of boots, 
or two pounds of ivory. The Libollo on the south have 
not so good a character; but the Coanza is always deep 
enough to form a line of defence. Colonel Pires is a good 
example of what an honest, industrious man in this country 
may become. He came as a servant in a ship, and, by a 
long course of persevering labor, has raised himself to be 
the richest merchant in Angola. He possesses some thou- 
sands of cattle, and, on any emergency, can appear in the 
field with several hundred armed slaves. 

While enjojang the hospitality of this merchant-prince 
in his commodious residence, which is outside the rocks 
and commands a beautiful view of all the adjacent country, 
I learned that all my despatches, maps, and journal had 
gone to the bottom of the sea in the mail-packet " Fore- 
runner." I felt so glad that my friend Lieutenant Beding- 
feld, to whose care I had committed them, though in the 
most imminent danger, had not shared a similar fate, that 
I was at once reconciled to the labor of rewriting. 1 
availed myself of the kindness of Colonel Pires, and re- 
mained till the end of the year reproducing my lost 
papers. 

Colonel Pires having another establishment on the banks 
of the Coanza, about six miles distant, I visited it with 
him about once a week for the purpose of recreation. The 
difference of temperature caused by the lower altitude was 
seen in the cashew-trees ; for while, near the rocks, these 
trees were but coming into flower, those at the lower sta- 
tion were ripening their fruit. Cocoanut-trees and 'pananas 



276 ANCIENT BURIAL-PLACE. 

bear well at the lower station, but yield little or no fruit 
at the upper. The difference indicated by the thermo- 
meter was 7°. The general range near the rocks was 67** 
at 7 A.M., 74° at mid-day, and 72° in the evening. 

A slave-boy belonging to Colonel Pires, having stolen 
and eaten some lemons in the evening, went to the river 
to wash his mouth, so as not to be detected by the flavor. 
An alligator seized him and carried him to an island in the 
middle of the stream : there the boy grasped hold of the 
reeds, and baffled all the efforts of the reptile to dislodge 
him, till his companions, attracted by his cries, came to his 
assistance. The alligator at once let go his hold ; for when 
out of his own element he is cowardly. The boy had many 
marks of the teeth in his abdomen and thigh, and those of 
the claws on his legs and arms. 

The slaves in Colonel Pires' establishments appeared 
more like free servants than any I had elsewhere seen. 
Every thing was neat and clean, — while generally, where 
slaves are the only domestics, there is an aspect of sloven- 
liness, as if they went on the principle of always doing as 
little for their masters as possible. 

In the country near to this station were a large number 
of the ancient burial-places of the Jinga. These are simply 
large mounds of stone, with drinking and cooking vessels 
of rude pottery on them. Some are arranged in a circular 
form, two or three yards in diameter, and shaped like a 
haycock. There is not a single vestige of any inscription. 
The natives of Angola generally have a strange predilec- 
tion for bringing their dead to the sides of the most fre- 
quented paths. They have a particular anxiety to secure 
the point where cross-roads meet. On and around the 
graves are planted tree-euphorbias and other species of 
that family. On the grave itself they also place water- 
bottles, broken pipes, cooking-vessels, and sometimes a 
little bow and arrow. 

The Portuguese Government, wishing to prevent thffl 
custom, affixed a penalty on any cme burying in the roads, 



MANIOC THE CHIEF PRODUCT. 277 

and appointed places of public sepulture in every district 
in the country. The people jDersist, however, in spite of 
the most stringent enforcement of the law, to follow their 
ancient custom. 

The country between the Coanza and Pun go Andongo is 
covered with low trees, bushes, and fine pastm^age. In the 
latter we were pleased to see our old acquaintances, the 
gaudy gladiolus, Amaryllis toxicaria, hymanthus, and other 
bulbs, in as flourishing a condition as at the Cape. 

It is surprising that so little has been done in the way 
of agriculture in Angola. Eaising wheat by means of ir- 
rigation has never been tried ; no plough is ever used ; and 
the only instrument is the native hoe, in the hands of 
slaves. The chief object of agriculture is the manioc, 
which does not contain nutriment sufficient to give proper 
stamina to the people. The half-caste Portuguese have 
not so much energy as their fathers. They subsist chiefly 
on the manioc; and, as that can be eaten either raw, 
roasted, or boiled, as it comes from the ground, or fer- 
mented in water, and then roasted or dried after fermenta- 
tion, and baked or pounded into fine meal, or rasped into 
meal and cooked as farina, or made into confectionary 
with butter and sugar, it does not so soon pall upon the 
palate as one might imagine when told that it constitutes 
their principal food. The leaves boiled make an excellent 
vegetable for the table ; and, when eaten by goats, their 
)/iilk is much increased. The wood is a good fuel, and 
yields a large quantity of potash. If planted in a dry 
ioil, it takes two years to come to perfection, requiring 
luring that time one weeding only. It bears drought 
well, and never shrivels up like other plants when de- 
prived of rain. "When planted in low, alluvial soils, and 
either weU supplied with rain or annually flooded, twelve, 
or even ten, months are sufficient to bring it to maturity 
The root rasped while raw, placed upon a cloth, and rubbed 
with the hands while water is poured upon it, parts with 
Its starchy glutinous matter, and this, when it settles at 

24 



ii78 ^TSIT FROM A COLOrvED PRIEST. 

the bottom of the vessel and the water poured off, is 
placed in the sun till nearly dry, to form tapioca. The 
process of drying is completed on an iron plate over a slow 
tire, the mass being stirred meanwhile with a stick, and 
when quite dry it appears agglutinated into little globules, 
and is in the form we see the tapioca of commerce. This 
is never eaten by weevils, and so little labor is required in 
its cultivation that on the spot it is extremely cheap. 
Throughout the interior parts of Angola, fine manioc-meal, 
which could with ease have been converted either into supe- 
rior starch or tapioca, is commonly sold at the rate of about 
ten pounds for a penny. All this region, however, has no 
means of transport to Loanda other than the shoulders of 
the carriers and slaves over a footpath. 

Cambambe, to which the navigation of the Coanza 
reaches, is reported to be thirty leagues below Pungo 
Andongo. A large waterfall is the limit on that side ; and 
another exists higher up, at the confluence of the Lombe, 
(lat. 9° 41' 26" S. and about long. 16° E.,) over which hip- 
popotami and elephants are sometimes drawn and killed. 
The river between is rapid, and generally rushes over a 
rocky bottom. Its source is pointed out as S.E. or S.S.E. 
of its confluence with the Lombe, and near Bihe. The situa- 
tion of Bihe is not well known. When at Sanza, we were 
assured that it lies nearly south of that point, and eight 
days distant. This statement seemed to be corroborated 
by our meeting many people going to Matiamvo and to 
Loanda from Bihe. Both parties had come to Sanza, and 
then branched ofP, one to the east, the other to the west. 
The source of the Coanza is thus probably not far from 
Sanza. 

I had the happiness of doing a little good in the way of 
administering to the sick; for there are no doctors in the 
interior of Angola. Notwithstanding the general healthi- 
ness of this fine district and its pleasant temperature, I was 
attacked by the fever myself. While confined to my room, 
a gentleman of color, a canon of the Church, kindly paid 



THE KING OF CONGO. 279 

me a visit. He was on a tour of visitation in the diiferent 
interior districts for the purpose of baptizing and marrying 
He had lately been on a visit to Lisbon in company with 
the Prince of Congo, and had been invested with an ordei 
of honor by the King of Portugal as an acknowledgment 
of his services. He had all the appearance of a true negro, 
but commanded the respect of the people ; and Colonel P., 
who had known him for thirty years, pronounced him to be a 
good man. There are only three or four priests in Loanda, 
— all men of color, but educated for the office. About the 
time of my journey in Angola^ an offer was made to any 
young men of ability who might wish to devote themselves 
to the service of the Church to afford them the requisite 
education at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. I 
was informed, on what seemed good authority, that the 
Prince of Congo is professedly a Christian, and that there 
are no fewer than twelve churches in that kingdom, the 
fruits of the mission established in former times at San 
Salvador, the capital. These churches are kept in partial 
re^^air by the people, who also keep up the ceremonies of 
the Church, pronouncing some gibberish over the dead in 
imitation of the Latin prayers which they had formerly 
heard. Many of them can read and write. When a king 
of Congo dies, the body is wrapped up in a great many 
folds of cloth until a priest can come from Loanda to con- 
secrate his successor. The King of Congo still retains the 
title of Lord of Angola, which he had when the Jinga, the 
original possessors of the soil, owed him allegiance ; and, 
when he writes to the Governor of Angola, he places his 
own name first, as if addressing his vassal. The Jinga 
paid him tribute annually in cowries, which were found on 
the island that shelters Loanda Harbor, and, on refusing to 
continue payment, the King of Congo gave over the island 
to the Portuguese, and thus their dominion commenced in 
this quarter. 

There is not much knowledge of the Christian religion 
in either Congo or Angola ; yet it is looked upon with a 



280 DEPARTURE FROM PUNGO ANDONGO. 

certain degree of favor. The prevalence of fever is pro- 
bably the reason why no priest occupies a post in any part 
of the interior. They come on tours of visitation like that 
mentioned, and it is said that no expense is incurred, for 
all the people are ready not only to pay for their services, 
but also to furnish every article in their power gratuitously. 
In view of the desolate condition of this fine missionary- 
field, it is more than probable that the presence of a few 
Protestants would soon provoke the priests, if not to love, 
to good works. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES THE LOAJIMA RIVER. 

January 1, 1855. — Having, through the kindness of 
Colonel Pires, reproduced some of my lost papers, I left 
Pungo Andongo the first day of this year, and at Can- 
dumba slept in one of the dairy-establishments of my 
friend, who had sent forward orders for an ample supply 
of butter, cheese, and milk. Our path lay along the right 
bank of the Coanza. This is composed of the same sand- 
stone rock, with pebbles, which forms the flooring of the 
country. The land is level, has much open forest, and is 
well adapted for pasturage. 

On reaching the confluence of the Lombe, we left tho 
river, and proceeded in a northeasterly direction, through 
a fine open green country, to the village of Malange, where 
we struck into our former path. A few miles to the west 
of this a path branches ofi" to a new district named the 
Puke Braganza. This path crosses the Lucalla and several 
of its feeders. The whole of the country drained by these 
is described as extremely fertile. The territory west of 
Braganza is reported to be mountainous, well wooded and 
watered; wild coffee is abundant, and the people even 



MEETING WITH NATIVE TRADERS. 281 

!tef tficir huts of coffee-trees. The rivers Dande, Senza, 
aiJ Lucalla are said to rise in one mountain-range. 
Numerous tribes inhabit the country to the north, who are 
all independent. The Portuguese power extends chiefly 
over the tribes through whose lands we have passed. It 
may be said to be firmly seated only between the rivers 
Dande and Coanza. It extends inland about three hun- 
dred miles to the river Quango; and the population, 
according to the imperfect data afforded by the census 
given annually by the commandants of the fifteen or six- 
teen districts into which it is divided, cannot be under 
600,000 souls. 

Leaving Malange, we passed quickly, without deviation, 
along the path by which we had come. At Sanza (lat. 9° 
Sr 46" S., long. 16° 59' E.) we expected to get a little seed- 
wheat, but this was not now to be found in Angola. 

"While at Tala Mungongo, we met a native of Bihe who 
has visited the country of Shinte three times for the pur- 
poses of trade. He gave us some of the news of that dis- 
tant part, but not a word of the Makololo, who have always 
been represented in the countries to the north ^s a despe- 
rately-savage race, whom no trader could visit with safety. 
The half-caste traders whom we met at Shinte's had re- 
turned to Angola with sixty-six slaves and upward of fifty 
tusks of ivory. As we came along the path, we daily met 
long lines of carriers bearing large square masses of bees'- 
wax, each about a hundred pounds' weight, and numbers 
of elephants' tusks, the property of Angolese merchants. 
Many natives were proceeding to the coast also on their 
own account, carrying bees'-wax, ivory, and sweet oil. 
They appeared to travel in perfect security; and at differ- 
ent parts of the road we purchased fowls from them at a 
penny each. My men took care to celebrate their own 
daring in having actually entered ships, while the natives 
of these parts, who had endeavored to frighten them on 
their way down, had only seen them at a distance. Poor 
follows! they were more than ever attentive to me; and, 

24* 



282 CASSANGE VILLAGE. 

as they were not obliged to erect sheds for themselves, in 
consequence of finding them already built at the different 
sleeping-places, all their care was bestowed in making me 
comfortable. Mashauana, as usual, made his bed with his 
head close to my feet, and never during the entire journey 
did I have to call him twice for any thing I needed. 

January 15, 1855. — We descended in one hour from the 
heights of Tala Mungongo. I counted the number of paces 
made on the slope downward, and found them to be sixteen 
hundred, which may give a perpendicular height of from 
twelve to fifteen hundred feet. 

Before we reached Cassange we were overtaken by the 
commandant, Senhor Carvalho, who was returning, with a 
detachment of fifty men and a field-piece, from an unsuc- 
cessful search after some rebels. The rebels had fled, and 
all he could do was to burn their huts. He kindly invited 
me to take up my residence with him ; but, not wishing to 
pass by the gentleman (Captain Neves) who had so kindly 
received me on my first arrival in the Portuguese pos- 
sessions, I declined. Senhor Kego had been superseded in 
his command, because the Governor Amaral, who had come 
into office since my departure from Loanda, had determined 
that the law which requires the office of commandant to be 
exclusively occupied by military officers of the line should 
once more come into operation. I was again most kindly 
welcomed by my friend Captain ISTeves, whom I found 
laboring under a violent inflammation and abscess of the 
hand. There is nothing in the situation of this village te 
indicate unhealthiness, except, perhaps, the rank luxu 
riance of the vegetation. Nearly all the Portuguese in^ 
habitants suffer from enlargement of the spleen, the effects 
of frequent intermittents, and have generally a sickly ap- 
pearance. Thinking that this affection of the hand was 
simply an effort of nature to get rid of malarious matter 
from the system, I recommended the use of quinine. He 
himself applied the leaf of a plant called cathoiy, famed 
among the natives as an excellent remedy for ulcers. The 



THE ORDEAL 283 

cathory -leaves, when boiled, exude a gummy juice, which 
effectually shuts out the external air. Each remedy, of 
course, claimed the merit of the cure. 

Many of the children are cut off by fever. A fine boy 
of Captain Neves' had, since my passage westward, shared 
a similar fate. Another child died during the period of 
my visit. 

The intercourse which the natives have had with white 
men does not seem to have much ameliorated their con- 
dition. A great number of persons are reported to lose 
their lives annually in different districts of Angola by the 
cruel superstitions to which they are addicted, and the 
Portuguese authorities either know nothing of them or are 
unable to prevent their occurrence. The natives are bound 
to secrecy by those who administer the ordeal, which gene- 
rally causes the death of the victim. A person, when ac- 
cused of witchcraft, will often travel from distant districts 
in order to assert her innocency and brave the test. They 
come to a river on the Cassange called Dua, drink the 
infusion of a poisonous tree^ and perish unknown. 

The same superstitious ideas being prevalent through 
the whole of the country north of the Zambesi seems to 
indicate that the people must originally have been one. 
All believe that the souls of the departed still mingle 
among the living and partake in some way of the food 
they consume. 

The chieftainship is elective from certain families. Among 
the Bangalas of the Cassange valley the chief is chosen 
from three families in rotation. A chief's brother inherits 
in preference to his son. The sons of a sister belong to her 
brother ; and he often sells his nephews to pay his debts. 
B}^ this and other unnatural customs, more than by war, is 
the slave-market supplied. 

While here, I reproduced the last of my lost papers and 
maps ; and, as there is a post twice a month from Loanda, 
I had the happiness to receive a packet of the '•'■TimeSy^ 
and; among other news, an account of the Eussian war up 



284 TRADING POMBEIROS. 

to the terrible charge of the light eavahy. The intense 
anxiety I felt to hear more may be imagined by every 
true patriot; but I was forced to brood on in silent 
thought, and utter my poor prayers for friends who per- 
chance were now no more, until I reached the other side 
of the continent. 

A considerable trade is carried on by the Cassange mer- 
chants with all the surrounding territory by means of 
native traders, whom they term "pombeiros." Two of 
these, called in the history of Angola '^ the trading blacks,'* 
(os feirantes pretos,) Pedro Joao Baptista and Antonio 
Jose, having been sent by the first Portuguese trader that 
lived at Cassange, actually returned from some of the Por- 
tuguese possessions in the East with letters from the 
governor of Mozambique in the year 1815, proving, as is 
remarked, " the possibility of so important a communica- 
tion between Mozambique and Jjoanda/' This is the only 
instance of native Portuguese subjects crossing the conti- 
nent. No European ever accomplished it, though this 
fact has lately been quoted as if the men had been 
^^ Portuguese .'^ 

Captain Neves was now actively engaged in preparing 
a present, worth about fifty pounds, to be sent by pom- 
beiros to Matiamvo. It consisted of great quantities of 
cotton cloth, a large carpet, an arm-chair with a canopy 
and curtains of crimson calico, an iron bedstead, mosquito- 
curtains, beads, &c., and a number of pictures rudely 
painted in oil by an embryo black painter at Cassange. 

Matiamvo, like most of the natives in the interior of the 
country, has a strong desire to possess a cannon, and had 
sent ten large tusks to purchase one ; but, being Govern- 
ment property, it could not be sold : he was now furnished 
with a blunderbuss mounted as a cannon, which would 
probably please him as well. 

Senhor Graga and some other Portuguese have visited 
this chief at different times; but no European resides 
beyond the Quango : indeed, it is contrary to the policy of 



A LARGE TUSK. 285 

the Government of Angola to allow their subjects to pene- 
trate farther into the interior. The present would have 
been a good opportunity for me to have visited that chief, 
and I felt strongly inclined to do so, as he had expressed 
dissatisfaction respecting my treatment by the Chiboque, 
and even threatened to punish them. As it would be im- 
proper to force my men to go thither, I resolved to wait 
and see whether the proposition might not emanate from 
themselves. When I can get the natives to agree in the 
propriety of any step, they go to the end of the affair 
without a murmur. I speak to them and treat them as 
rational beings, and generally get on well with them in 
consequence. 

February 20. — On the day of starting from Cassange the 
westerly wind blew strongly, and on the day following we 
were brought to a stand by several of our party being laid 
up with fever. This complaint is the only serious draw- 
back Angola possesses. It is in every other respect an 
agreeable land, and admirably adapted for yielding a rich 
abundance of tropical produce for the rest of the world. 
Indeed, I have no hesitation in asserting that, had it been 
in the possession of England, it would now have been 
yielding as much or more of the raw material for her 
manufactures as an equal extent of territory in the cotton- 
growing States of America. A railway from Loanda to 
this valley would secure the trade of most of the interior 
of South Central Africa. 

As soon as we could move toward the Quango we did so, 
meeting in our course several trading-parties, both native 
and Portuguese. We met two of the latter carrying a 
tusk weighing 126 lbs. The owner afterward informed us 
that its fellow on the left side of the same elephant was 130 
lbs. It was 8 feet 6| inches long, and 21 inches in circum- 
ference at the part on which the lip of the animal rests. 
The elephant was rather a small one, as is common in this 
hot central region. Some idea may be formed of the 
strength of his neck when it is recollected that he bore a 



286 RENEWED ATTACK OF FEVER. 

weight of 256 lbs. The ivory which comes from the east 
and northeast of Cassange is very much larger than any 
to be found farther south. Captain Neves had one weigh- 
ing 120 lbs.; and this weight is by no means uncommon. 
They have been found weighing even 158 lbs. 

Before reaching the Quango we were again brought to 
a stand, by fever in two of my companions, close to the 
residence of a Portuguese who rejoiced in the name of 
William Tell and who lived here in spite of the prohibition 
of the Government. We were using the w^ater of a pond; 
and this gentleman, having come to invite me to dinner, 
drank a little of it, and caught fever in consequence. If 
malarious matter existed in water, it would have been a 
wonder had we escaped; for, travelling in the sun, with 
the thermometer from 96° to 98° in the shade, the evapora- 
tion from our bodies causing much thirst, we generally 
partook of every water we came to. We had probably 
thus more disease than others might suffer who had better 
shelter. 

Mr. Tell remarked that his garden was rather barren, 
being still, as he said, wild ; but when more worked it 
would become better, though no manure be applied. My 
men were busy collecting a better breed of fowls and 
pigeons than those in their own country. Mr. Tell pre- 
sented them with some large specimens from Rio Janeiro. 
Of these they were wonderfully proud, and bore the cock 
in triumph through the country of the Balonda, as evidence 
of having been to the sea. But when at the village of 
Shinte a hyena came into our midst when we were all 
sound asleep, and picked out the giant in his basket from 
eighty -four others, and he was lost, to the great grief of 
my men. The anxiety these people have always shown to 
improve the breed of their domestic animals is, I think, a 
favorable point in their character. 

On coming back to Cypriano's village on the 28th, we 
found his step-father had died after we had passed, and, 
according to the custom of the country, he had spent moro 



SUPERSTITIOUS FEAKS. 287 

than his patrimony in funeral orgies. lie acted with liis 
wonted kindness, though, unfortunately, drinking has got 
him so deeply in debt that he now keeps out of the way of 
his creditors. He informed us that the source of the 
Quango is eight days, or one hundred miles, to the south 
of this, and in a range called Mosamba, in the country of 
the Basongo. We can see from this a sort of break in the 
high land which stretches away round to Tala Mongongo, 
through which the river comes. 

A death had occurred in a village about a mile oif, and 
the people were busy beating drums and firing guns. The 
funeral rites are half festive, half mourning, partaking 
somewhat of the character of an Irish wake. There is 
nothing more heart-rending than their death-wails. When 
the natives turn their eyes to the future world, they have 
a view cheerless enough of their own utter helplessness 
and hopelessness. They fancy themselves completely in 
the power of the disembodied spirits, and look upon the 
prospect of following them as the greatest of misfortunes. 
Hence they are constantly deprecating the wrath of de- 
parted souls, believing that, if they are appeased, there is 
no other cause of death but witchcraft, which may be 
averted by charms. 

We were informed that a chief named Gando, living on 
the other side of the river, having been accused of witch- 
craft, was killed by the ordeal, and his body thrown into 
the Quango. 

The ferrymen demanded thirty yards of calico, but 
received six thankfully. The canoes were wretched, carry- 
ing only two persons at a time ; but, my men being well 
acquainted with the water, we all got over in about two 
hours and a half They excited the admiration of the 
inhabitants by the manner in which they managed the 
cattle and donkeys in crossing. 

On the eastern side of the Quango we passed on, without 
visiting our friend of the conical head-dress, to the resi- 
dence of some Ambakistas who had crossed the river in 



2S8 AMBAKISTAS — BASIIINJE. 

ordor to secure the first cliances of trade in wax. I have 
uefore remarked on the knowledge of reading and writing 
that these Ambakistas possess; they are famed for their 
love of ali sorts of learning within their reach, a knowledge 
of the history of Portugal, Portuguese law, &c. &c. They 
are remarkably keen in trade, and are sometimes called 
the Jews of Angola. They are emploj^ed as clerks and 
writers, their feminine delicacy of constitution enabling 
them to write a fine lady's hand, a kind of writing much 
esteemed among the Portuguese. They are not physically 
equal to the European Portuguese, but possess considerable 
ability; and it is said that half castes, in the course of a 
few generations, return to the black color of the maternal 
ancestor. 

The Bashinje, in whose country we now are, seem to 
possess more of the low negro character and physiognomy 
than either the Balonda or Basongo; their color is generally 
dirty black, foreheads low and compressed, noses flat and 
much expanded laterally, though this is partly owing to 
the aloo spreading over the cheeks, by the custom of insert- 
ing bits of sticks or reeds in the septum ; their teeth are 
deformed by being filed to points; their lips are large. 
They make a nearer approach to a general negro appear- 
ance than any tribes I met; but I did not notice this on 
iny wa}^ down. They cultivate pretty largely, and rely upon 
their agricultural products for their supplies of salt, flesh, 
tobacco, &c. from Bangalas. Their clothing consists of 
pieces of skin hung loosely from the girdle in front and 
behind. They plait their hair fantastically. We saw some 
women coming with their hair woven into the form of a 
European hat, and it was only by a closer inspection that 
its nature was detected. Others had it arranged in tufts, 
with a threefold cord along the edge of each tuft; while 
others, again, follow the ancient Egj^ptian fashion, having 
the whole mass of wool plaited into cords, all hanging 
down as far as the shoulders. This mode, with the some- 
what Egyptian cast of countenance in other parts of Londa, 



SANS awe's idea OF DIGNITY 289 

reminded me strongly of the paintings of that nation in 
the British Museum. 

We had now rain every day, and the sky seldom pre- 
sented that cloudless aspect and clear blue so common in 
the dry lands of the south. The heavens are often over- 
cast by large white motionless masses, which stand for 
hours in the same position ; and the intervening spaces aro 
filled with a milk-and-water-looking haze. Notwithstand- 
ing these unfavorable circumstances, I obtained good OD- 
servations for the longitude of this important point on both 
sides of the Quango, and found the river running in 9° 50' S. 
lat., 18° 33' E. long. 

On proceeding to our former station near Sansawe's 
village, he ran to meet us with wonderful urbanity, asking 
if we had seen Moene Put, king of the white men, (or Por- 
tuguese,) and added, on parting, that he would come to 
receive his dues in the evening. I replied that, as he had 
treated us so scurvily, even forbidding his people to sell us 
any food, if he did not bring us a fowl and some eggs as 
part of his duty as a chief, he should receive no present 
from me. When he came, it was in the usual Londa way 
of showing the exalted position he occupies, mounted on 
the shoulders of his spokesman, as schoolboys sometimes 
do in England, and as was represented to have been the 
case in the southern islands when Captain Cook visited 
them. My companions, amused at his idea of dignity, 
greeted him with a hearty laugh. He visited the native 
traders first, and then came to me with two cocks as a 
present. I spoke to him about the impolicy of treatment 
we had received at his hands, and quoted the example of 
the Bangalas, who had been conquered by the Portuguese 
for their extortionate demands of payment for firewood, 
grass, water, &c., and concluded by denying his right to 
any payment for simply passing through uncultivated land. 
To all this he agreed; and then I gave him, as a token of 
friendship, a pannikin of coarse powder, two iron spoons, 
and two yards of coarse printed calico lie looked rather 

T 25 



290 MORE FEVER. 

Baucily at these articles, for he had just received a barrel 
containing eighteen pounds of powder, twenty -four yards 
of calico, and two bottles of brandy, from Senhor Pascoal 
the pombeiro. Other presents were added the next day, 
but we gave nothing more; and the pombeiros informed 
me that it was necessary to give largely, because they are 
accompanied by slaves and carriers who are no great 
friends to their masters; and, if they did not secure the 
friendship of these petty chiefs, many slaves and their loads 
might be stolen while passing through the forests. It is 
thus a sort of black-mail that these insignificant chiefs 
levy; and the native traders, in paying, do so simply as a 
bribe to keep them honest. This chief was a man of no 
power, but in our former ignorance of this he plagued us a 
whole day in passing. 

Finding the progress of Senhor Pascoal and the other 
pombeiros excessively slow, I resolved to forego his com- 
pany to Cabango after I had delivered to him some letters 
to be sent back to Cassange. I went forward with the 
intention of finishing my writing and leaving a packet for 
him at some village. We ascended the eastern acclivity 
that bounds the Cassange valley, which has rather a 
gradual ascent up from the Quango, and we found that 
the last ascent, though apparently not quite so high as 
that at Tala Mungongo, is actually much higher. The top 
is about 6000 feet above the level of the sea, and the 
bottom 3500 feet ; water boiling on the heights at 202°, the 
thermometer in the air showing 96°, and at the bottom at 
205°, the air being 75°. We had now gained the summit 
of the western subtending ridge, and began to descend 
toward the centre of the country, hoping soon to get out 
of the Chiboque territory, which, when we ascended from 
the Cassange valley, we had entered; but, on the 19th of 
April, the intermittent, which had begun on the 16th of 
March, was changed into an extremely severe attack of 
rheumatic fever. This was brought on by being obliged 
to sleep on an extensive plain covered with water. The 



A BLOW ON THE BEARD. 291 

rnin poured down incessantly; but w^e formed our beds by 
dragging up the earth into oblong mounds, somewhat like 
graves in a country churchyard, and then placing grass 
upon them. The rain continuing to deluge us, we were 
unable to leave for two days; but as soon as it became fair 
we continued our march. The heavy dew upon the high 
grass was so cold as to cause shivering, and I was forced 
to lie by for eight days, tossing and groaning with violent 
pain in the head. This was the most severe attack I had 
endured. It made me quite unfit to move, or even know 
what was passing outside my little tent. Senhor Pascoal, 
who had been detained by the severe rain at a better spot, 
at last came up, and, knowing that leeches abounded in 
tlie rivulets, procured a number, and applied some dozens 
to the nape of the neck and the loins. This partially 
relieved the pain. He was then obliged to move forward, 
in order to purchase food for his large party. After many 
days, I began to recover, and wished to move on, but my 
men objected to the attempt on account of my weakness. 
When Senhor Pascoal had been some time at the village in 
front, as he had received instructions from his employer. 
Captain Neves, to aid me as much as possible, and being 
himself a kindly-disposed person, he sent back two mes- 
sengers to invite me to come on, if practicable. 

It happened that the head-man of the village where I 
had lain twenty-two days, while bargaining and quarrelling 
in my camp for a piece of meat, had been struck on the 
n^outh by one of my men. My principal men paid five 
pieces of cloth and a gun as an atonement; but the more 
they yielded the more exorbitant he became, and he sent 
word to all the surrounding villages to aid him in avenging 
the affront of a blow on the beard. As their courage 
usually rises with success, I resolved to yield no more, and 
departed. In passing through a forest in the country 
beyond, we were startled by a body of men rushing after 
us. They began by knocking down the burdens of the 
hindermost of my men, and several shuts were fired, each 



2G2 RKTRISUSII IN A FOREST. 

party spreading out on both sides of the path. I fortu- 
nately had a six-barrelled revolver, which my friend 
Captain Henry Need, of her majesty's brig "Linnet," had 
considerately sent to Golungo Alto after my departure 
from Loanda. Taking this in my hand, and forgetting 
fever, I staggered quickly along the path with two or three 
of my men, and fortunately encountered the chief. The 
sight of the six barrels gaping into his stomach, with my 
own ghastly visage looking daggers at his face, seemed to 
produce an instant revolution in his martial feelings; for 
he cried out, ^' Oh, I have only come to speak to you, and 
wish peace onh^'^ Mashauana had hold of him by the 
hand, and found him shaking. We examined his gun, and 
found that it had been discharged. Both parties crowded 
up to their chiefs. One of the opposite party coming too 
near, one of mine drove him back with a battle-axe. The 
enemy protested their amicable intentions, and my men 
asserted the fact of having the goods knocked down as 
evidence of the contrary. Without waiting long, I re- 
quested all to sit down ', and Pitsane, placing his hand upon 
the revolver, somewhat allayed their fears. I then said to 
the chief, " If you have come with peaceable intentions, 
we have no other : go away home to your village." He 
replied, " I am afraid lest you shoot me in the back." I 
rejoined, " If I wanted to kill you, I could shoot you in 
the face as well." Mosantu called out to me, " That's 
only a Makalaka trick : don't give him your back." But 
I said, " Tell him to observe that I am not afraid of him/' 
and, turning, mounted my ox. There was not much danger 
in the fire that was opened at first, there being so many 
trees. The enemy probably expected that the sudden 
attack would make us forsake our goods and allow them 
to plunder with ease. The villagers were no doubt 
pleased with being allowed to retire unscathed, and we 
were also glad to get away without having shed a drop of 
blood or having compromised ourselves for any future visit. 
Mj men were delighted with their own bravery, and made 



RATE OF TRAVEL. 293 

the woods ring with telling each other liow ^^ brilliant their 
conduct before the enemy" would have been, had hosti- 
lities not been brought to a sudden close. 

I do not mention this little skirmish as a very frightful 
affair. The negro character in these parts, and in Angola, 
is essentially cowardly, except when influenced by success. 
A partial triumj^h over any body of men would induce the 
whole country to rise in arms ; and this is the chief danger 
to be feared. These petty chiefs have individually but 
little power, and with my men, now armed with guns, I 
could have easily beaten them off singly; but, being of 
the same family, they would readily unite in vast numbers 
if incited by prospects of successful plunder. They are by 
no means equal to the Cape Caffres in any respect what- 
ever. 

In the evening we came to Moena Kikanje, and found 
him a sensible man. He is the last of the Chiboque chiefs 
in this direction, and is in alliance with Matiamvo, whose 
territory commences a short distance beyond. His village 
is placed on the east bank of the Quilo, which is here 
twenty yards wide and breast deep. 

The country was generally covered with forest, and we 
slept every night at some village. I was so weak, and had 
become so deaf from the effects of the fever, that I was 
glad to avail myself of the company of Senhor Pascoal and 
the other native traders. Our rate of travelling was only 
two geographical miles per hour, and the average number of 
hours three and a half per day, or seven miles. Two-thirds 
of the month was spent in stoppages, there being only ten 
travelling-days in each month. The stoppages were caused 
by sickness, and the necessity of remaining in different 
parts to purchase food; and also because when one carrier 
was sick the rest refused to carry his load. 

We crossed the Loange, a deep but narrow stream, by a 
bridge. It becomes much larger, and contains hippopo- 
tami, lower down. It is the boundary of Londa on the west. 
We slept also on the banks of the Pezo, now flooded, and 

25* 



2D4 FEEDERS OF THE CONGO. 

could not but admire their capabilities for easy irrigation. 
Ofi reaching the river Chikapa, (lat. 10° 10' S., long. 19° 
42' E.,) the 25th of March, we found it fifty or sixty yards 
wide, and flowing E.N.E. into the Kasai. The adjacent 
country is of the same level nature as that part of Londa 
formerly described ; but^ having come farther to the east- 
ward than our previous course, we found that all the rivers 
had worn for themselves much deeper valleys than at the 
points we had formerly crossed them. 

Surrounded on all sides by large gloomy forests, the 
people of these parts have a much more indistinct idea of 
the geography of their country than those who live in hilly 
regions. It was only after long and patient inquiry that I 
became fully persuaded that the Quilo runs into the Chi- 
kapa. As we now crossed them both considerably farther 
down, and were greatly to the eastward of our first route, 
there can be no doubt that these rivers take the same 
course as the others, into the Kasai, and that I had been 
led into a mistake in saying that any of them flowed to 
the westward. Indeed, it was only at this time that I 
began to perceive that all the western feeders of the Kasai, 
except the Quango, flow first from the western side toward 
the centre of the country, then gradually turn, with the 
Kasai itself, to the north, and, after the confluence of the 
Kasai with the Quango, an immense body of water, col- 
lected from all these branches, finds its way out of the 
country by means of the river Congo or Zaire, on the west 
coast. 

The people living along the path we are now following 
were quite accustomed to the visits of native traders, and 
did not feel in any way bound to make presents of food 
except for the purpose of cheating : thus, a man gave me 
a fowl and some meal, and after a short time returned. 
I ofl'ered him a handsome present of beads ; but these he 
declined, and demanded a cloth instead, which was far 
more than the value of his gift. They did the same with 
my men, until 'we had to refuse presents altogether. Others 



CROSSING THE LOAJIMA. 



295 



made high demands because I slept in a ^^ house of cloth" 
and must be rich. They seemed to think that they had a 
perfect right to payment for simply passing through the 
country. 

Beyond the Chikapa we crossed the Kamaue, a small, 
deep stream proceeding from the S.S.W. and flowing into 
the Chikapa. 

On the 30th of April we reached the Loajima, where we 
had to form a bridge to effect our passage. This was not 
80 difficult an operation as some might imagine; for a tree 




A LONDA LADY'S MODE OF WEARING HER HAIR. 



was growing in a boiizontal position across part of the 
stream, and, there being no want of the tough climbing 
plants which admit of being knitted like ropes, Senhor P. 
soon constructed a bridge. The Loajima was here about 
twenty-five yards wide, but very much deeper than where 
I had crossed before on the shoulders of Mashauana. Thd 



206 



MODES OF DRESSING THE HAIR. 



last rain of this season had fallen on the 28th, and had 
suddenly been followed by a great decrease of the tempera- 
ture. The people in these parts seemed more slender in 
form, and their color a lighter olive, than any we had 
hitherto met. The mode of dressing the great masses of 
woolly hair which lay upon their shoulders, together with 
their general features, again reminded me of the ancient 
Egyptians. Several were seen with the upward inclination 
of the outer angles of the eye ; but this was not general. 




LADY'S HEAD-DRESS OF WOVEN HAIR. 



A few of the ladies adopt a curious custom of attaching 
the hair to a hoop which encircles the head, giving it some- 
what the appearance of the glory round the head of the 
Virgin, as shown on p. 295. Some have a small hoop behind 
that represented in the wood-cut. Others wear an orna- 
ment of woven hair and hide adorned with beads. Tho 
hair of the tails of buffaloes, which are to be found farther 



HBAD-DRESSES. 



297 



east, is Bometimes added; while others weave their own 
hair on pieces of hide into the form of buffalo-horns, oi 
make a single horn in front. Many tattoo their bodies by 
inserting some black substance beneath the skin, which 
leaves an elevated cicatrix about half an inch long : these 
are made in the form of stars and other figures of no par- 
ticular beauty. 




LADY'S HEAD-DRESS IN SHAPE OF BUFFALO-HORNS. 



298 CABANGO. 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE VISITS THE COUNTRY OF THE BALONDA. 

We made a little detour to the southward, in order to 
get provisions in a cheaper market. This led us along the 
rivulet called Tamba, where we found the people, who had 
not been visited so frequently by the slave-traders as the 
rest, rather timid and very civil. 

We reached the river Moamba (lat. 9° 38' S., long. 20° 
13' 34'' E.) on the 7th May. This is a stream of thirty 
yards wide, and, like the Quilo, Loange, Chikapa, and 
Loajima, contains both alligators and hippopotami. We 
crossed it by means of canoes. 

We crossed two small streams, the Kanesi and Fombeji, 
before reaching Cabango, a village situated on the banks 
of the Chihombo. The country was becoming more 
densely peopled as we proceeded, but it bears no jDopula- 
tion compared to what it might easily sustain. 

Cabango (lat. 9° 31' S., long. 20° 31' or 32' E.) is the 
dwelling-place of Muanzanza, one of Matiamvo's subor- 
dinate chiefs. His village consists of about two hundred 
huts and ten or twelve square houses, constructed of 
poles with grass interwoven. The latter are occupied 
by half-caste Portuguese from Ambaca, agents for the 
Cassange traders. The cold in the mornings was now 
Bevere to the feelings, the thermometer ranging from 58° 
to 60°, though, when protected, sometimes standing as 
high as 64° at six a.m. When the sun is well up, the 
thermometer in the shade rises to 80°, and in the even- 
ings it is about 78°. 

Having met with an accident to one of my eyes by a 
blow from a branch in passing through a forest, I remained 
some days here, endeavoring, though with much pain, to 
draw a sketch of the country thus far, to be sent back to 



DEPARTURE FROM CABANGO. 299 

Mr. Gabriel at Loanda. I was always anxious to transmit 
an account of my discoveries on every possible occasion, 
lest, any thing happening in the country to which I was 
going, they should be entirely lost. I also fondly expected 
a packet of letters and papers which my good angel at 
Loanda would be sure to send if they came to hand ; but 1 
afterward found that, though he had offered a large sum 
to any one who would return with an assurance of having 
delivered the last packet he sent, no one followed me with 
it to Cabango. The unwearied attentions of this good 
Englishman, from his first welcome to me, when, a weary, 
dejected, and worn-down stranger, I arrived at his resi- 
dence, and his whole subsequent conduct, will be held in 
lively remembrance by me to my dying day 

As we thought it best to strike away to the S.E. from 
Cabango to our old friend Katema, I asked a guide from 
Muanzanza. He agreed to furnish one, and also accepted 
a smaller present from me than usual, when it was re- 
presented to him by Pascoal and Faria that I was not a 
trader. 

We were forced to prepay our guide and his father too ; 
and he went but one day, although he promised to go with 
us to Katema. 

The reason why we needed a guide at all was to secure 
the convenience of a path, which, though generally no 
better than a sheep-walk, is much easier than going 
straight in one direction through tangled forests and 
tropical vegetation. We knew the general direction we 
ought to follow, and also if any deviation occurred from 
our proper route ; but, to avoid impassable forests and 
untreadable bogs, and to get to the proper fords of the 
rivers, we always tried to procure a guide, and he always 
followed the common path from one village to another 
when that lay in the direction we were going. 

After leaving Cabango, on the 21st, we crossed several 
little streams running into the Chihombo on our left. 

On the 28th we reached the village of the chief Bango, 



300 INTERVIEW WITH KAWAWA. 

(lat. 12° 22' 53" S., long. 20° 58' E.,) who brought us a 
handsome present of meal and the meat of an entire 
pallah. We here slaughtered the last of the cows pre- 
sented to us by Mr. Schut, which I had kept milked until 
it gave only a teaspoonful at a time. My men enjoyed a 
hearty laugh when they found that I had given up all hope 
of more, for they had been talking among themselves about 
my perseverance. 

May 30. — We left Bango, and proceeded to the river 
Loembwe, which flows to the N.N.E. and abounds in 
hippopotami. It is about sixty yards wide and four feet 
deep, but usually contains much less water than this, for 
there are fishing-weirs placed right across it. Like all the 
African rivers in this quarter, it has morasses on each 
bank; yet the valley in which it winds, when seen from 
the high lands above, is extremely beautiful. 

Having passed the Loembwe, we were in a more open 
country, with every few hours a small valley, through 
which ran a little rill in the middle of a bog. These were 
always difficult to pass, and, being numerous, kept the 
lower part of the person constantly wet. 

On the evening of the 2d of June we reached the village 
of Kawawa, — rather an important personage in these parts. 
This village consists of forty or fifty huts, and is surrounded 
by forest. Drums were beating over the body of a man 
who had died the preceding day, and some women were 
making a clamorous wail at the door of his hut, and 
addressing the deceased as if alive. 

In the morning we had agreeable intercourse with Ka- 
wawa : he visited us, and we sat and talked nearly the 
whole day with him and his people. When we visited 
him in return, we found him in his large court-house, 
which, though of a bee-hive shape, was remarkably well 
built. As I had shown him a number of curiosities, he 
now produced a jug, of English ware, shaped like an old 
man holding a can of beer in his hand, as the greatest 
curiosity he had to exhibit. 



TRIBUTE DEMANDED. 301 

We exhibited the pictures of the magic lantern in the 
evening, and all were delighted except Kawawa himself. 
He showed symptoms of dread, and several times started 
up as if to run away, but was prevented by the crowd 
behind. Some of the more intelligent understood the ex- 
planations well, and expatiated eloquently on them to the 
more obtuse. Nothing could exceed the civilities which 
had passed between us during this day ; but Kawawa had 
heard that the Chiboque had forced us to pay an ox, and 
now thought he might do the same. When, therefore, I 
sent next morning to let him know that we were ready to 
start, he replied, in his figurative way, "If an ox come in 
the way of a man, ought he not to eat it ? I had given 
one to the Chiboque, and must give him the same, together 
with a gun, gunpowder, and a black robe, like that he had 
seen spread out to dry the day before ; that, if I refused an 
ox, I must give one of my men, and a book by which he 
might see the state of Matiamvo's heart toward him, and 
which would forewarn him should Matiamvo ever resolve 
to cut off his head.'^ Kawawa came in the coolest manner 
possible to our encampment after sending this message, 
and told me he had seen all our goods and must have all 
he asked, as he had command of the Kasai in our front, 
and would prevent us from passing it unless we paid this 
tribute. I replied that the goods were my property and 
not his ; that 1 would never have it said that a white man 
had paid tribute to a black, and that I should cross the 
Kasai in spite of him. He ordered his people to arm them- 
selves, and when some of ni}^ men saw them rushing for 
their bows, arrows, and spears, they became somewhat 
panic-stricken. I ordered them to move away, and not to 
fire unless Kawawa's people struck the first blow. I took 
the lead, and expected them all to follow, as they usually 
had done; but many of my men remained behind. When 
I knew this, I jumped off the ox and made a rush to them 
with the revolver in my hand. Kawawa ran away among 

his people, and they turned their backs too. I shouted to 

26 



302 UNPLEASANT PARTING. 

my men to take up their luggage and march : some did so 
with alacrity, feeling that they had disobeyed orders by 
remaining ; but one of them refused, and was preparing to 
fire at Kawawa, until I gave him a punch on the head 
with the pistol and made him go too. I felt here, as else- 
where, that subordination must be maintained at all risks. 
We all moved into the forest, the people of Kawawa stand- 
ing about a hundred yards off, ga^ug, but not firing a shot 
or an arrow. It is extremely unpleasant to part with these 
chieftains thus, after spending a day or two in the most 
amicable intercourse, and in a part where the people are 
generally civil. This Kawawa, however, is not a good 
specimen of the Balonda chiefs, and is rather notorious in 
the neighborhood for his folly. We were told that he has 
good reason to believe that Matiamvo will some day cut 
off his head for his disregard of the rights of strangers. 

Kawawa was not to be balked of his supposed rights by 
the unceremonious way in which we had left him; for, 
when we had reached the ford of the Kasai, about ten 
miles distant, we found that he had sent four of his men 
with orders to the ferrymen to refuse us passage. We 
were here duly informed that we must deliver up all the 
articles mentioned, and one of our men besides. This de- 
mand for one of our number always nettled every heart. 
The canoes were taken away before our eyes, and we were 
supposed to be quite helpless without them, at a river a 
good hundred yards broad, and very deep. Pitsane stood 
on the bank, gazing with apparent indifference on the 
stream, and made an accurate observation of where the 
canoes were hidden among the reeds. The ferrymen 
casually asked one of my Batoka if they had rivers in his 
country, and he answered, with truth, ^'No; we have 
none.'' Kawawa's people then felt sure we could not cross. 
I thought of swimming when they were gone; but, after 
it was dark, by the unasked loan of one of the hidden 
canoes, we soon were snug in our bivouac on the southern 
bank of the Kasai. 1 left some beads as payment for some 



LEVEL PLAINS. 303 

meal which had been presented by the ferrymen ; and, the 
canoe having been left on their own side of the river, 
Pitsane and his companions laughed uproariously at the 
disgust our enemies would feel, and their perplexity as 
to who had been our paddler across. They were quite 
sure that Kawawa would imagine that we had been ferried 
over by his own people and would be divining to find out 
who had done the deed. "When ready to depart in the 
morning, Kawawa's people appeared on the opposite 
heights, and could scarcely believe their eyes when they 
saw us prepared to start away to the south. At last one 
of them called out, ^^Ah! ye are bad;'' to which Pitsane 
and his companions retorted, "Ah! ye are good, and we 
thank you for the loan of your canoe." We were careful 
to explain the whole of the circumstances to Katema and 
the other chiefs, and they all agreed that we were per- 
fectly justifiable under the circumstances, and that Ma- 
tiamvo would approve our conduct. When any thing that 
might bear an unfavorable construction happens among 
themselves, they send explanations to each other. The 
mere ftict of doing so prevents them from losing their 
character, for there is public opinion even among them. 



CHAPTER XXTY. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE RETURNS TO THE COUNTRY OF THE 
MAKOLOLO. 

After leaving the Kasai, we entered upon the extensive 
level plains which we had formerly found in a flooded con- 
dition. The water on them was not yet dried up, as it 
still remained in certain hollow spots. Vultures were seen 
floating in the air, showing that carrion was to be found; 
and, indeed, we saw several of the large game, but so 
exceedingly wild as to be unapproachable. 



804 LAKE DILOLO. 

During our second day on this extensive plain I suffered 
from my twenty-seventh attack of fever, at a part where 
no surface-water was to be found. We never thought it 
necessary to carry water with us in this region ; and now, 
when I was quite unable to move on, my men soon found 
water to allay my burning thirst by digging with sticks a 
few feet beneath the surface. We had thus an opportunity 
of observing the state of these remarkable plains at differ- 
ent seasons of the year. Next day we pursued our way, 
and on the 8th of June we forded the Lotembwa to the 
JN'.W. of Dilolo, and regained our former path. 

After crossing the Northern Lotembwa, we met a party 
of the people of Kangenke, who had treated us kindly on 
our way to the north, and sent him a robe of striped calico, 
with an explanation of the reason for not returning through 
his village. We then went on to the Lake Dilolo. It is a 
fine sheet of water, six or eight miles long and one or two 
broad, and somewhat of a triangular shape. A branch 
proceeds from one of the angles and flows into the Southern 
Lotembwa. 

We found Moene Dilolo (Lord of the Lake) a fat, jolly 
fellow, who lamented that when they had no strangers 
they had plenty of beer, and always none when they came. 
He gave us a handsome present of meal and putrid buffalo's 
flesh. Meat cannot be too far gone for them, as it is used 
only in small quantities, as a sauce to their tasteless manioc 

June 14. — We reached the collection of straggling vil- 
lages over which Katema rules, and were thankful to see 
ohi familiar faces again. Shakatwala performed the part 
of a chief by bringing forth abundant supplies of food in 
his master's name. He informed us that Katema, too, was 
out hunting skins for Matiamvo. 

On the 15th Katema came home from his hunting, having 
heard of our arrival. He desired me to rest myself and 
eat abundantly, for, being a great man, I must feel tired, 
and took good care to give the means of doing so. All the 
people in these parts are exceedingly kind and liberal with 



WELCOME FR03I SHINTE. 305 

their food, and Katema was not behindhand. When ho 
vidited our encampment, I presented him with a cloak of 
red baize, ornamented with gold tinsel, which cost thirty- 
shillings, according to the promise I had made in going to 
Londa ; also a cotton robe, both large and small beads, an 
iron spoon, and a tin pannikin containing a quarter of a 
pound of powder. He seemed greatly pleased with the 
liberality shown, and assured me that the way was mine, 
and that no one should molest me in it if he could help it. 

Leaving Katema's town on the 19th, and proceeding 
four miles to the eastward, we forded the southern branch 
of Lake Dilolo. We found it a mile and a quarter broad; 
and, as it flows into the Lotembwa, the lake would seem 
to be a drain of the surrounding flats, and to partake of 
the character of a fountain. The ford was waist dee]^, and 
very difficult, from the masses of arum and rushes through 
which we waded. Going to the eastward about three 
miles, we came to the Southern Lotembwa itself, running 
in a valley two miles broad. It is here eighty or ninety 
yards wide, and contains numerous islands covered with 
dense sylvan vegetation. 

We traversed the extended plain on the north bank of 
the Leeba, and crossed this river a little farther on at Kan- 
yonke's village, which is about twenty miles west of the 
Peri Hills, our former ford. The first stage beyond the 
Leeba was at the rivulet Loamba, by the village of Che- 
bende, nephew of Shinte; and next day we met Chebende 
himself returning from the funeral of Samoana, his father. 
He was thin and haggard-looking compared to what he 
had been before, — the probable efl'ect of the orgies in which 
he had been engaged. 

We reached our friend Shinte, and received a hearty 
welcome from this friendly old man, and abundant pro- 
visions of the best he had. On hearing a report of the 
journey given by my companions, and receiving a piece 
of cotton cloth about two yards square, he said, " These 
Mambari cheat us by bringing little pieces only; but the 

U 26* 



306 VISIT TO NYAMOANA. 

next time you pass I shall send men with you to trade for 
me in Loanda/' When I explained the use made of the 
slaves he sold, and that he was just destroying his own 
tribe by seUing his people, and enlai-ging that of the Mam- 
bari for the sake of these small pieces of cloth, it seemed to 
him quite a new idea. 

We parted on the best possible terms with our friend 
Shinte, and proceeded by our former path to the village of 
his sister Nyamoana, who is now a widow. She received us 
with much apparent feeling, and said, '*We had removed 
from our former abode to the place where you found us, 
and had no idea then that it was the spot where my hus- 
band was to die." She had come to the river Lofuje, as 
they never remain in a place where death has once visited 
them. We received the loan of five small canoes from her, 
and also one of those we had left here before, to proceed 
down the Leeba. 

Having despatched a message to our old friend Manenko, 
we waited a day opposite her village, which was about 
fifteen miles from the river. Her husband was instantly 
despatched to meet us with liberal presents of food, she 
being unable to travel in consequence of a burn on the 
foot. Sambanza gave us a detailed account of the political 
affairs of the country, and of Kolimbota's evil doings. 

A short distance below the confluence of the Leeba and 
Leeambye we met a number of hunters belonging to the 
tribe called Mambowe, who live under Masiko. They had 
dried flesh of hippopotami, bufi'aloes, and alligators. This 
party had been sent by Masiko to the Makololo for aid to 
repel their enemy, but, afraid to go thither, had spent the 
time in hunting. They have a dread of the Makololo, and 
hence the joy they expressed when peace was proclaimed.* 

* The Masiko were terrible warriors, but the atrocities committed by 
them in war will hardly bear comparison with those committed even in 
time of peace by the Zulus (Zooloos) under Chaka. Here is a specimen 
given by Captain Harris: — " Umnante, the queen-mother, died, and 
every subject in the realm was expected to proceed, according to esta- 



CRUELTY OF THE ZULUS. 807 

The Mambowe hunters were much alarmed until my namo 
was mentioned. They then joined our party, and on the 
following day discovered a hippopotamus dead, which they 
had previously wounded. This was the first feast of flesh 
my men had enjoyed, for, though the game was wonder- 
fully abundant, I had quite got out of the way of shooting, 
ahd missed perpetually. Once 1 went with the determina- 
tion of getting so close that I should not miss a zebra. 
AYe went along one of the branches that stretch out from the 
river in a small canoe, and two men, stooping down as low 
as they could, paddled it slowly along to an open space near 
to a herd of zebras and pokus. Peering over the edge of 
the canoe, the open space seemed like a patch of wet ground, 
such as is often seen on the banks of a river, made smooth 
as the resting-place of alligators. When we came within 
a few yards of it, we found by the precipitate plunging of 
the reptile that this was a large alligator itself Although 
I had been most careful to approach near enough, I unfor- 
tunately only broke the hind-leg of a zebra. My two men 
pursued it, but the loss of a hind-leg does not prevent this 
animal from a gallop. As I walked slowly after the men 
on an extensive plain covered with a great crop of grass, 



Misbed custom, to the king's residence, there to mourn for the illustrious 
deceased. Umnante had been repudiated by Essen ziuconyarna, and had 
afterward been guilty of signal infidelity to the nation by cohabiting with 
a commoner of her father's tribe. Whether in consequence of this lapse, 
or from some other circumstance, the usual etiquette was somewhat laxlj 
observed, and there ensued an appalling tragedy, which had never beer 
exceeded, either in brutality or foulness, by any of the black and inhu- 
man exploits detailed in the long and bloody catalogue of Chaka's crimes. 
Upon the grounds that * some of the subjects must have been accessary 
by witchcraft to the death of the queen-mother, and did not therefore 
attend to mourn,' several kraals and villages were fired ; men, women, 
and children, having first been cruelly tortured, were roasted alive in tho 
flames by the ferocious agents of a still more fiendish master ; this act 
of unprecedented barbarity being followed up by a general massacre 
throughout the realm, — the tide of blood flowing for a whole fortnight, 
and reeking of cruelties too revolting to narrate." — Ed, 



B08 CHARGE OP A BUFFALO. 

which was laid by its own weight, I observed that a soli- 
tary buffalo, disturbed by others of my own party, was 
coming to me at a gallop. I glanced ai*ound, but the only 
tree on the plain was a hundred yards off, and there was 
no escape elsewhere. I therefore cocked my rifle, with 
the intention of giving him a steady shot in the forehead 
when he should come within three or four yards of me. The 
thought flashed across my mind, " What if your gun misses 
fire V I placed it to my shoulder as he came on at full 
speed, and that is tremendous, though generally he is a 
lumbering-looking animal in his paces. A small bush and 
bunch of grass fifteen yards off made him swerve a little, 
and exposed his shoulder. I just heard the ball crack 
there as I fell flat on my face. The pain must have made 
him renounce his purpose, for he bounded close past me on 
to the water, where he was found dead. In expressing my 
thankfulness to God among my men, they were much 
offended with themselves for not being present to shield 
me from this danger. The tree near me was a camel-thorn, 
and reminded me that we had come back to the land of 
thorns again, for the country we had left is one of ever- 
greens. 

July 27. — "We reached the town of Libonta, and were 
received with demonstrations of joy such as I had never 
witnessed before. The women came forth to meet us, 
making their curious dancing gestures and loud lulliloos. 
Some carried a mat and stick, in imitation of a spear and 
shield. Others rushed forward and kissed the hands and 
cheeks of the different persons of their acquaintance among 
us, raising such a dust that it was quite a relief to get to 
the men assembled and sitting with proper African decorum 
in the kotla. "We were looked upon as men risen from the 
dead, for the most skilful of their diviners had pronounced 
us to have perished long ago. After many expressions of 
joy at meeting, I arose, and, thanking them, explained the 
V muses of our long delay, but left the report to be made by 
their own countrymen. Formerly I had been the chief 



RECEPTION AT LIBONTA. 809 

speaker, now I would leave the task of speaking to them. 
Pitsane then delivered a speech of upward of an hour in 
length, giving a highlj-flattering picture of the whole jour- 
ney, of the kindness of the white men in general, and of 
Mr. Grabriel in particular. He concluded by saying that I 
had done more for thom than they expected ; that I had not 
only opened uj) a path for them to the other white men, 
but conciliated all the chiefs along the route. The oldest 
man present rose and answered this speech, and, among 
other things, alluded to the disgust I felt at the Makololo 
for engaging in marauding-expeditions against Lechulatebo 
and Sebolamakwaia, of which we had heard from the first 
persons we met, and which my companions most energeti- 
cally denounced as " mashue hela," entirely bad. He en- 
treated me not to lose heart, but to reprove Sekeletu as my 
child. Another old man followed with the same entreaties. 
The following day we observed as our thanksgiving to 
God for his goodness in bringing us all back iji safety to 
our friends. My men decked themselves out in their best, 
ard I found that, although their goods were finished, they 
had managed to save suits of European clothing, which, 
being white, with their red caps, gave them rather a dash- 
ixig appearance. They tried to walk like the soldiers they 
had seen in Loanda, and called themselves my "braves," 
(batlabani.) During the service they all sat with their 
guns over their shoulders, and excited the unbounded admi- 
ration of the women and children. I addressed them all 
on the goodness of God m preserving us from all the 
dangers of strange tribes and disease. We had a similar 
service in the afternoon. The men gave us two fine oxen 
for slaughter, and the women supplied us abundantly with 
milk, meal, and butter. It was all quite gratuitous, and I felt 
ashamed that I could make no return. My men explained 
the total expenditure of our means, and the Libontese 
answered, gracefully, " It does not matter : you have opened 
a path for us, and we shall have sleep.'' Strangers came 



310 KINDNESS OF THE TEOPLE. 

flocking from a distance, and seldom empty-handed. Their 
presents I distributed among my men. 

Our progress down the Barotse valley was just like this. 
Every village gave us an ox, and sometimes two. The 
people were wonderfully kind. I felt, and still feel, most 
deeply grateful, and tried to benefit them in the only way 
I could, by imparting the knowledge of that Savior who 
can comfort and supply them in the time of need ; and my 
prayer is that he may send his good Spirit to instruct thera 
and lead them into his kingdom. Even now I earnestly 
long to return and make some recompense to them for 
their kindness. In passing them on our way to the north, 
their liberality might have been supposed to be influenced 
by the hope of repayment on our return, for the white 
man's land is imagined to be the source of every ornament 
they prize most. But, though we set out from Loanda 
with a considerable quantity of goods, hoping both to pay 
our way through the stingy Chiboque and to make presents 
to the kind Balonda and still more generous Makololo, the 
many delays caused by sickness made us expend all my 
stock, and all the goods my men procured by their own 
labor at Loanda, and we returned to the Makololo as poor 
as when we set out. Yet no distrust was shown, and my 
poverty did not lessen my influence. They saw that I had 
been exerting myself for their benefit alone, and even my 
men remarked, ^' Though we return as poor as we went, 
we have not gone in vain.'' They began immediately to 
collect tusks of hippopotami and other ivory for a second 
journey. 



COLONY OF BIRDS SJ] 



CHAPTEE XXY. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE PREPARES FOR HIS JOURNEY TO THE EAST 

COAST. 

On the 31st of July we parted with our kind Libonta 
friends. We planted some of our palm-tree seeds in differ- 
ent villages of this valley. They began to sprout even 
while we were there ; but, unfortunately, they were always 
destroyed by the mice which swarm in every hut. 

At Chitlane's village we collected the young of a colony 
of the linkololo (Anastomus lamalligerus,) a black, long- 
legged bird, somewhat larger than a crow, which lives on 
shell-fish (Ampullaria) and breeds in society at certain 
localities among the reeds. These places are well known, 
as they continue there from year to year, and belong to the 
chiefs, who at particular times of the year gather most 
of the young. The produce of this ^'harvest,'' as they 
call it, which was presented to me, was a hundred and 
seventy-five unfledged birds. They had been rather late 
in collecting them, in consequence of waiting for the 
arrival of Mpololo, who acts the part of chief, but gave 
them to me, knowing that this would be pleasing to him. 
otherwise this colony would have yielded double the 
amount. The old ones appear along the Leeambye in vast 
flocks, and look lean and scraggy. The young are very 
fat, and, when roasted, are esteemed one of the dainties of 
the Barotse valley. In presents of this kind, as well as of 
oxen, it is a sort of feast of joy, the person to whom they 
are presented having the honor of distributing the mate- 
rials of the feast. We generally slaughtered every ox at 
the village where it was presented, and then our friends 
and we rejoiced together. 

The village of Chitlane is situated, like all others in the 
Barotse valley, on an eminence, over which floods do not 



312 ckitlane's village. 

rise; bat this last year the water approached nearer to an 
entire submergence of the whole valley than has been 
known in the memory of man. Great numbers of people 
were now suffering from sickness, which always prevails 
when the waters are drying uj), and I found much demand 
for the medicines I had brought from Loanda. The great 
variation of the temperature each day must have a trying 
effect upon the health. At this village there is a real Indian 
banian-tree, which has spread itself over a considerable 
space by means of roots from its branches; it has been 
termed, in consequence, 'Uhe tree with legs," (more oa 
maotu.) It is curious that trees of this family are looked 
upon with veneration, and all the way from the Barotse to 
Loanda are thought to be preservatives from evil. 

On reaching Naliele on the 1st of August we found 
Mpololo in great affliction on account of the death of his 
daughter and her child. She had been lately confined; 
and her father naturally remembered her when an ox was 
filaughtered, or when the tribute of other food, which he 
receives in lieu of Sekeletu, came in his way, and sent fre- 
quent presents to her. This moved the envy of one of 
the Makololo who hated Mpololo, and, wishing to vex him, 
he entered the daughter's hut by night, and strangled both 
her and her child. He then tried to make fire in the hut 
and burn it, so that the murder might not be known ; but 
the squeaking noise of rubbing the sticks awakened a ser- 
vant, and the murderer was detected. Both he and hia 
wife were thrown into the river, — the latter having "known 
of her husband's intentions, and not revealing them.'* 
She declared she had dissuaded him from the crime, and, 
had any one interposed a word, she might have been 
spared. 

Mpololo exerted himself in every way to supply us with 
other canoes, and we left Shinte's with him. The Mam- 
bowe were well received, and departed with friendly mes- 
sages to their chief Masiko. My men were exceedingly 
delighted with the cordial reception we met with every- 



MESSAGE FROM MASIKO. 313 

Where; but a source of annoyance was found where it was 
not expected. Many of their wives had married other 
men during our two years' absence. Mashauana's wife, 
who had borne him two children, was umong the number. 
He wished to appear not to feel it much, saying, "Why, 
wives are as plentiful as grass, and I can get another : she 
may go/' but he would add, "If I had that fellow, I 
would open his ears for him." As most of them had more 
wives than one, I tried to console them by saying that 
they had still more than I had, and that they had enough 
yet ; but they felt the reflection to be galling that, while 
they were toiling, another had been devouring their corn. 
Some of their wives came with very young infants in their 
arms. This excited no discontent; and for some I had to 
speak to the chief to order the men, who had married the 
only wives some of my companions ever had, to restore 
them. 

Sunday, August 5. — A large audience listened most atten- 
tively to my morning address. Surely some will remember 
the ideas conveyed, and pray to our merciful Father, who 
would never have thought of him but for this visit. The 
invariably kind and respectful treatment I have received 
from these and many other heathen tribes in this central 
country, together with the attentive observations of many 
years, have led me to the belief that, if one exerts him- 
self for their good, he will never be ill treated. There 
may be opposition to his doctrine, but none to the man 
himself. 

While still at Naliele, a party which had been sent after 
me by Masiko arrived. He was much disappointed because 
I had not visited him. They brought an elephant's tusk, 
two calabashes of honey, two baskets of maize, and one 
of groundnuts, as a present. Masiko wished to say that 
he had followed the injunction which I had given as the 
will of God, and lived in peace until his brother Limboa 
came, captured his women as they went to their gardens, 
*n4 then appeared before his stockade. Masiko offered to 

27 



;314 FREEDOM OF SPEECH. 

lead his men out; but they objected, saying, "Let us 
servants be killed: you must not be slain." Those who 
eaid this were young Barotse who had been drilled to 
fighting by Sebituane, and used shields of ox-hide. They 
beat off the party of Limboa, ten being wounded and ten 
slain in the engagement. Limboa subsequently sent three 
slaves as a self-imposed fine to Masiko for attacking him. 
I succeeded in getting the Makololo to treat the messengers 
of Masiko well, though, as they regarded them as rebels, 
it was somewhat against the grain at first to speak civilly 
to them. 

Mpololo, attempting to justify an opposite line of con- 
duct, told me how they had fled from Sebituane, even 
though he had given them numbers of cattle after their 
subjection by his arms, and was rather surprised to find that 
I was disposed to think more highly of them for having 
asserted their independence, even at the loss of milk. For 
this food all who have been accustomed to it from infancy 
in Africa have an excessive longing. I pointed out how 
they might be mutually beneficial to each other by the 
exchange of canoes and cattle. 

There are some very old Barotse living here, who were 
the companions of the old chief Santuru. These men, 
protected by their age, were very free in their comments 
on the " upstart" Makololo. One of them, for instance, 
interrupted my conversation one day with some Makololo 
gentlemen with the advice '■'■ not to believe them, for they 
were only a set of thieves;" and it was taken in quite a 
good-natured way. It is remarkable that none of the 
ancients here had any tradition of an earthquake having 
occurred in this region. Their quick perception of events 
recognizable by the senses, and retentiveness of memory, 
render it probable that no perceptible movement of the 
earth has taken place between 7° and 27° S. in the centre 
of the continent during the last two centuries at least. 
There is no appearance of recent fracture or disturbance 
of rocks to be seen in the central country, except the falls 



GONYE END OF WINTER. ^l7 

of Gonye; nor is there any evidence or tradition of hur- 
ricanes. 

I left jS^aliele on the 13th of August, and, when proceed- 
ing along the shore at mid-day, a hippopotamus struck the 
canoe.with her forehead, lifting one-half of it quite out of 
the water, so as nearly to overturn it. The force of the 
butt she gave tilted Mashauana out into the river; the rest 
of us sprang to the shore, which was only about ten yards 
off. Glancing back, I saw her come to the surface a short 
way off and look to the canoe, as if to see if she had 
done much mischief. It was a female, whose young one 
had been speared the day before. No damage was done, 
except wetting person and goods. This is so unusual an 
occurrence, when the precaution is taken to coast along 
the shore, that my men exclaimed, " Is the beast mad ?" 
There were eight of us in the canoe at the time, and the 
shake it received shows the immense power of this animal 
in the water. 

August 22. — This is the end of winter. The trees which 
line the banks begin to bud and blossom, and there is some 
show of the influence of the new sap, which will soon end 
in buds that push off the old foliage by assuming a very 
bright orange color. This orange is so bright that I mis- 
took it for masses of yellow blossom. There is every 
variety of shade in the leaves, — ^yellow, purple, copper, 
liver-color, and even inky black. 

Having got the loan of other canoes from Mpololo, and 
three oxen as provision for the way, which made the 
number we had been presented with in the Barotse valley 
amount to thirteen, we proceeded down the river toward 
Sesheke, and were as much struck as formerly with the 
noble river. The whole scenery is lovely, though the atmo- 
sphere is murky in consequence of the continuance of the 
smoky tinge of winter. 

The amount of organic life is surprising. At the time 
the river begins to rise, the Ibis religiosa comes down in 
flocks of fifties; with prodigious numbers of other water- 

27* 



318 ABUNDANCE OF WATERFOWL. 

fowl. Some of the sand-banks appear whitened daring 
the day with flocks of pelicans ; I once counted three hun- 
dred ; others are brown with ducks, (Anas histrionica,) — I 
got fourteen of these by one shot, — (Querquedula Hottentotay 
Smith,) and other kinds. Great numbers of gulls, {Frocel- 
laria turtur, Smith,) and several others, float over the sur- 
face. The vast quantity of small birds which feed on in- 
sects show that the river teems also with specimens of 
minute organic life. In walking among bushes on the 
banks, we are occasionally stung by a hornet, which makes 
its nest in form like that of our own wasp, and hangs it 
on the branches of trees. The breeding (Tropyrj is so strong 
in this insect that it pursues any one twenty or thirty 
yards who happens to brush too closely past its nest. The 
sting, which it tries to inflict near the eye, is more like a 
discharge of electricity from a powerful machine, or a 
violent blow, than aught else. It produces momentary 
insensibility, and is followed by the most pungent pain. 
Yet this insect is quite timid when away from its nest. 
It is named Murotuani by the Bechuanas. 

We have tsetse between Nameta and Sekhosi. An in- 
sect of prey, about an inch in length, long-legged and 
gaunt-looking, may be observed flying about and lighting 
upon the bare ground. It is a tiger in its way, for it 
springs upon tsetse and other flies, and, sucking out their 
blood, throws the bodies aside. 

Ijong before reaching Sesheke wehad been informed that 
a party of Matebcle, the people of Mosilikatse, had brought 
Bome packages of goods for me to the south bank of the 
river, near Victoria Falls, and, though they declared they 
had been sent by Mr. Moff'at, the Makololo had refused to 
credit the statement of their sworn enemies. They ima- 
gined the parcels were directed to me as a mere trick 
whereby to place witchcraft-medicine in the hands of the 
Makololo. When the Matebele on the south bank called to 
the Makololo on the north to come over in canoes and re- 



DISCOVERY FORESTALLED. 319 

ceive the goods sent by Moffat to '* Nake," the Makololo 
replied, ^^Go along with you: we know better than that. 
How could he tell Moffat to send his things here, he having 
gone away to the north ?" The Matebele answered, "Jltre 
are the goods : we place them now before you, and if yoa 
leave them to perish the guilt will be yours." "When they 
had departed, the Makololo thought better of it, and, after 
much divination, went over with fear and trembling, and 
carried the packages carefully to an island in the middle of 
the stream; then, building a hut over them to protect 
them from the weather, they left them ; and there I found 
they had remained from September, 1854, till September, 
1855, in perfect safety. Here, as I had often experienced 
before, I found the news was very old, and had lost much 
of its interest by keeping; but there were some good eat- 
ables from Mrs. Moffat. Among other things, I discovered 
that my friend Sir Roderick Murchison, while in his study 
in London, had arrived at the same conclusion respecting 
the form of the African continent as I had lately come to 
on the spot ; and that from the attentive study of the geo- 
logical map of Mr. Bain and other materials, some of which 
were furnished by the discoveries of Mr. Oswell and my- 
self, he had not only clearly enunciated the peculiar configu- 
ration as a hypothesis in his discourse before the Geogra- 
phical Society in 1852, but had even the assurance to send 
me out a copy for my information ! There was not much 
use in nursing my chagrin at being thus fairly "cut out" 
by the man who had foretold the existence of the Au?itra- 
lian gold before its discovery; for here it was in black and 
white. In his easy-chair he had forestalled me by three 
years, though I had been working hard through jungle, 
marsh, and fever, and, since the light dawned on my mind 
at Dilole, had been cherishing the pleasing delusion that I 
should be the first to suggest the idea that the interior of 
Africa was a watery plateau of less elevation than flanking 
billy ranges. 
Having waited a few days at Sesheke till the liorses 



320 TRADING -PARTY TO LOANDA. 

which we had left at Linyanti should arrive, we proceeded 
to that town, and found the wagon, and every thing we 
bad left in November, 1853, perfectly safe. A grand meet- 
ing of all the people was called to receive our report and 
the articles which had been sent by the governor and mer- 
chants of Loanda. I explained that none of these were 
my property, but that they were sent to show the friendly 
feelings of the white men, and their eagerness to enter into 
commercial relations with the Makololo. 1 then requested 
my companions to give a true account of what they had 
seen. The wonderful things lost nothing in the telling, the 
climax always being that they had finished the whole world, 
and had turned only when there was no more land. One 
glib old gentleman asked, " Then you reached Ma Eobert 
[Mrs. L.] ?" They were obliged to confess that she lived 
a little beyond the world. The presents were received with 
expressions of great satisfaction and delight ; and on Sun- 
day, when Sekeletu made his appearance at church in his 
uniform, it attracted more attention than the sermon ; and 
the kind expressions they made use of respecting myself 
were so very flattering that I felt inclined to shut my eyes. 
Their private opinion must have tallied with their public 
report, for I very soon received offers from volunteers to 
accompany me to the east coast. They said they wished 
to be able to return and relate strange things like my re- 
cent companions ; and Sekeletu immediately made arrange- 
ments with the Arab Ben Habid to conduct a fresh party 
with a load of ivory to Loanda. These, he said, must go 
"with him and learn to trade; they were not to have any 
thing to do in the disposal of the ivory, but simply look 
and learn. My companions were to remain and rest them- 
selves, and then return to Loanda when the others had 
come home. Sekeletu consulted me as to sending presents 
back to the governor and merchants of Loanda; but, not 
possessing much confidence in this Arab, I advised him to 
Bend a present by Pitsane, as he knew who ought to ro- 
ceive it. 



DR. LIVINGSTONE REPROVES SEKELETU. 321 

Since my arrival in England^ information has been re- 
ceived from Mr. Gabriel that this party had arrived on the 
west coast, but that the ivory had been disposed of to some 
Portuguese merchants in the interior, and the men had 
been obliged to carry it down to Loanda. They had not 
been introduced to Mr. Gabriel, but that gentleman, having 
learned that they were in the city, went to them and pro- 
nounced the names Pitsane, Mashauana, when all started up 
and crowded round him. When Mr. G. obtained an inter- 
preter, he learned that they had been ordered by Sekeletu 
to be sure and go to my brother, as he termed him. Mr. 
G. behaved in the same liberal manner as he had done to 
my companions, and they departed for their distant home 
after bidding him a formal and affectionate adieu. 

During the time of our absence at Loanda, the Makololo 
had made two forays and captured large herds of cattle. 
One to the lake was in order to punish Lechulatebe for 
the insolence he had manifested after procuring some fire- 
arms ; and the other to Sebola Makwaia, a chief living far 
to the N.E. This was most unjustifiable, and had been 
condemned by all the influential Makololo. 

In accordance with the advice of my Libonta friends, I 
did not fail to reprove '^ my chihi Sekeletu" for his marau- 
ding, This was not done in an angry manner, for no good 
is ever achieved by fierce denunciations. Motibe, his 
father-in-law, said to me, " Scold him much, but don't let 
others hear you.^' 

The Makololo expressed great satisfaction with the route 
we had opened up to th« west, and soon after our arrival a 
^^picho" was called, in order to discuss the question of 
removal to the Barotse valley, so that they might be nearer 
the market. Some of the older men objected to abandon- 
ing the line of defence afforded by the rivers Chobe and 
Zambesi against their southern enemies the Matebele. The 
Makololo generally have an aversion to the Barotse valley, 
on account of the fevers which are annually engendered in 
it as the waters dry up. They prefer it only as a cattle- 



322 KINDNESS or THE MAKOLOLO CHIEF. 

station; for, though the herds are frequently thinned by an 
eiiidemic disease, (peripneumonia,) they breed so fast that the 
_08ses are soon made good. Wherever else the Makololo 
go, they always leave a portion of their stock in the charge 
of herdsmen in that prolific valley. Some of the younger 
men objected to removal because the rankness of the grass 
at the Barotse did not allow of their running fast, and be- 
cause there " it never becomes cool." 

Sekeletu at last stood up, and, addressing me, said, ^^I am 
perfectly satisfied as to the great advantages for trade of 
the path which you have opened, and think that we ought 
to go to the Barotse, in order to make the way from us to 
Loanda shorter; but with whom am I to live there? If 
you were coming with us, I would remove to-morrow; but 
now you are going to the white man's country to bring Ma 
Eobert, and when you return you will find me near to the 
spot on which you wish to dwell." I had then no idea 
that any healthy spot existed in the country, and thought 
only of a convenient central situation, adapted for inter- 
course with the adjacent tribes and with the coast, such as 
that near to the confluence of the Leeba and Leeambye. 

Daring the whole of my stay with the Makololo, Seke- 
lutu supplied my wants abundantly, appointing some cows 
to furnish me with milk, and, when he went out to hunt, 
sent home orders for slaughtered oxen to be given. That 
the food was not given in a niggardly spirit may be inferred 
from the fact that when I proposed to depart on the 20th 
of October he protested against my going off in such a 
hot sun. " Only wait," said he, " for the first shower, and 
then I will let you go." This was reasonable, for the ther- 
mometer, placed upon a deal box in the sun, rose to 138°. 
It stood at 108° in the shade by day, and 96° at sunset. 

I still possessed some of the coffee which I had brought 
from Angola, and some of the sugar which I had left in my 
wagon. So long as the sugar lasted, Sekeletu favored me 
with his company at meals; but the sugar soon came to a 
close. The Makololo, as formerly mentioned, were well 



SEKELETU'S COMMISSIONS. 323 

acquainted with the sugarcane, as it is cultivated by tho 
Barotse, but never knew that sugar could be got from it. 
When I explained the process by which it was produced, 
Sekeletu asked if I could not buy him an apparatus for the 
purpose of making sugar. He said he would plant the 
cane largely if he only had the means of making the sugar 
from it. I replied that I was unable to purchase a mill, 
when he instantly rejoined, "Why not take ivory to buy 
it?" As I had been living at his expense, I was glad of 
the opportunity to show my gratitude by serving him; and 
when he and his principal men understood that I was 
willing to execute a commission, Sekeletu gave me an 
order for a sugar-mill, and for all the different varieties of 
clothing that he had ever seen, especially a mohair coat, a 
good rifle, beads, brass wire, &c. &c., and wound up by 
saying, "And any other beautiful thing you may see in 
your own country." As to the quantity of ivory required 
to execute the commission, I said I feared that a large 
amount would be necessary. Both he and his councillors 
replied, " The ivory is all your own : if you leave any in 
the country it will be your own fault." He was also 
anxious for horses. The two I had left with him when I 
went to Loanda were still living, and had been of great use 
to him in hunting the giraffe and eland; and he was now 
anxious to have a breed. This, I thought, might be ob- 
tained at the Portuguese settlements. All were very much 
delighted with the donkeys we had brought from Loanda. 
As we found that they were not affected by the bite of the 
tsetse, and there was a prospect of the breed being con- 
tinued, it was gratifying to see the experiment of their 
introduction so far successful. The donkeys came as 
frisky as kids all the way from Loanda until we began 
to descend the Leeambye. There we came upon so many 
interlacing branches of the river, and were obliged to 
drag them through such masses of tangled aquatic plants^ 
that we half drowned them, and were at last obliged ta 
leave them, somewhat exhausted, at Naliele. They excited 



324 THE author's influence with the natives. 

the unbounded admiration of my men by their knowledge 
of the different kinds of plants, which, as they remarked, 
"the animals had never before seen in their own country;" 
and when the donkeys indulged in their music they 
startled the inhabitants more than if they had been lions. 
We never rode them, nor yet the horse which had been 
given by the bishop, for fear of hurting them by any 
work. 

Although the Makololo were so confiding, the reader must 
not imagine that they would be so to every individual who 
might visit them. Much of my influence depended upon 
the good name given me by the Bak wains, and that I 
secured only through a long course of tolerablj^ good con- 
duct. IS'o one ever gains much influence in this country 
without purity and uprightness. The acts of a stranger 
are keenly scrutinized by both young and old; and seldom 
is the judgment pronounced, even by the heathen, unfair 
or uncharitable. I have heard women speaking in admira- 
tion of a white man because he was pure and never was 
guilty of any secret immorality. Had he been, they would 
have known it, and, untutored heathen though they be, 
would have despised him in consequence. Secret vice 
becomes known throughout the tribe; and, w^hile one un- 
acquainted with the language may imagine a peccadillo to 
be hidden, it is as patent to all as it would be in London 
had he a placard on his back. 

21th October, 1855. — The first continuous rain of the 
season commenced during the night, the wind being from 
the N.E., as it always was on like occasions at Kolobeng. 
The rainy season was thus begun, and I made ready to go 
The mother of Sekeletu prepared a bag of groundnuts, by 
frying them with cream with a little salt, as a sort of sand- 
wiches for my journey. This is considered food fit for a 
chief. Others ground the maize from my own garden into 
meal, and Sekeletu pointed out Sekwebu and Kanyata as 
the persons who should head the party intended to form 
my company. Sekwebu had been captured by the Matebele 



REMARKS OP MAMIRE. 325 

when a little boy, and the tribe in which he was a captive 
had migrated to the country near Tete ; he had travelled 
along both banks of the Zambesi several times, and was 
intimately acquainted with the dialects spoken there. I 
found him to be a person of great prudence and sound 
judgment, and his subsequent loss at the Mauritius has 
been, ever since, a source of sincere regret. He at once 
recommended our keeping well away from the river, on 
account of the tsetse and rocky country, assigning also as 
a reason for it that the Leeambye beyond the falls turns 
round to the N.N.E. Mamire, who had married the mother 
of Sekeletu, on coming to bid me farewell before starting, 
said, "You are now going among people who cannot be 
trusted, because we have used them badly ; but you go with 
a different message from any they ever heard before, and 
Jesus will be with you and help you, though among enemies; 
and if he carries you safely, and brings you and Ma Eobert 
back again, I shall say he has bestowed a great favor upon 
me. May we obtain a path whereby we may visit and be 
visited by other tribes and by white men V On telling 
him my fears that he was still inclined to follow the old 
marauding system, which prevented intercourse, and that 
he, from his influential position, was especially guilty in the 
late forays, he acknowledged all rather too freely for my 
taste, but seemed quite aware that the old system was far 
from right. Mentioning my inability to pay the men who 
were to accompany me, he replied, "A man wishes, of 
course, to appear among his friends, after a long absence, 
with something of his own to show : the whole of the 
ivory in the country is yours, so you must take as much as 
you can, and Sekeletu will furnish men to carry it.'' These 
remarks of Mamire are quoted literally, in order to show 
the state of mind of the most influential in the tribe. And, 
as I wish to give the reader a fair idea of the other side of 
the question as well, it may be mentioned that Motibe 
parried the imputation of the guilt of marauding by every 
possible subterfuge. He would not admit that they had 

28 



32G A THUNDER-STORM. 

done wrong, and laid the guilt of the wars in which the 
Makololo had engaged on the Boers, the Matehele, and 
every other tribe except his own. When quite a youth, 
Motibe^s family had been attacked by a party of Boers : he 
hid himself in an ant-eater's hole, but was drawn out and 
thrashed with a whip of hippopotamus-hide. When en- 
joined to live in peace, he would reply, ^' Teach the Boers 
to lay down their arms first." Yet Motibe, on other occa- 
sions, seemed to feel the difference between those who are 
Christians indeed and those who are so only in name. In 
all our discussions we parted good friends. 



CHAPTEE XXYI. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE DISCOVERS THE FALLS OP VICTORIA. 

On the 3d of November we bade adieu to our friends at 
Linyanti, accompanied by Sekeletu and about 200 followers. 
We were all fed at his expense, and he took cattle for this 
purpose from every station we came to. The principal 
men of the Makololo, Lebeole, Ntlarie, Nkwatlele, &c. were 
also of the party. We passed through the patch of the 
tsetse, which exists between Linyanti and Sesheke, by night. 
The majority of the company went on by daylight, m 
order to prepare our beds. Sekeletu and I, with about 
forty young men, waited outside the tsetse till dark. We 
then went forward, and about ten o'clock it became so 
pitchy dark that both horses and men were completely 
blinded. The lightning spread over the sky, forming eight 
or ten branches at a time, in shape exactly like those of a 
tree. This, with great volumes of sheet-lightning, enabled 
us at times to see the whole country. The intervals between 
the flashes were so densely dark as to convey the idea of 
stone-blindness. The horses trembled, cried out, and turned 
round, as if searching for each other, and every new flash 



KINDNESS OF MAKOLOLO. 327 

revealed the men taking different directions, laughing, and 
stumbling against each other. The thunder was of that tre- 
mendously-loud kind only to be heard in tropical countries, 
and which friends from India have assured me is louder 
in Africa than any they have ever heard elsewhere. Then 
came a pelting rain, which completed our confusion. After 
the intense heat of the day, we soon felt miserably cold, 
and turned aside to a fire we saw in the distance. This 
had been made by some people on their march; for this 
path is seldom without numbers of strangers passing to and 
from the capital. My clothing having gone on, I lay down 
on the cold ground, expecting to spend a miserable night ; 
but Sekeletu kindly covered me with his own blanket and 
lay uncovered himself. I was much affected by this act 
of genuine kindness. If such men must perish by the 
advance of civilization, as certain races of animals do be- 
fore others, it is a pity. God grant that ere this time 
comes they may receive that gospel which is a solace for 
the soul in death ! 

While at Sesheke, Sekeletu suj^plied me with twelve 
oxen, — three of which were accustomed to being ridden 
upon, — hoes, and beads to purchase a canoe when we 
should strike the Leeambye beyond the falls. He likewise 
presented abundance of good fresh butter and honey, and 
did every thing in his power to make me comfortable for 
the journey. I was entirely dependent on his generosity; 
for the goods I originally brought from the Cape were all 
expended by the! time I set off from Linyanti to the west 
coast. I there drew £70 of my salary, paid my men with 
it, and purchased goods for the return-journey to Linyanti. 
These being now all expended, the Makololo again fitted 
me out, and sent me on to the east coast. I was thus 
dependent on their bounty and that of other Africans for 
the means of going from Linyanti to Loanda, and again 
from Linyanti to the east coast, and I feel deeply grateful 
to theni. Coin would have been of no benefit, for gold and 
silver are quite unknown. We were here joined by 



328 sekote's island. 

Moriantsane, uncle of Sekeletu and head-man of Sesheke; 
and, entering canoes on the 13th, some sailed down the 
river to the confluence of the Chobe, while others drove the 
cattle along the banks, spending one night at Mparia, the 
island at the confiuence of the Chobe, which is composed 
of trap having crystals of quartz in it coated with a 
pellicle of green copper-ore. Attempting to proceed down 
the river next day, we were detained some hours by a 
strong east wind raising waves so large as to threaten to 
swamp the canoe. The river here is very large and deep, 
and contains two considerable islands, which from either 
bank seem to be joined to the opposite shore. 

Having descended about ten miles, we came to the 
island of Nampene, at the beginning of the rapids, where 
we were obliged to leave the canoes and proceed along the 
banks on foot. The next evening we slept opposite the 
island of Chondo, and, then crossing the Lekone or Lek- 
wine, early the following morning were at the island of 
Sekote, called Kalai. This Sekote was the last of the 
Batoka chiefs whom Sebituane rooted out. 

As this was the point from which we intended to strike 
off to the northeast, I resolved on the following day to 
visit the falls of Victoria, called by the natives Mosioa- 
tunya, or, more anciently, Shongwe. Of these we had 
often heard since we came into the country : indeed, one 
of the questions asked by Sebituane was, " Have you smoke 
that sounds in your country ?" They did not go near 
enough to examine them, but, viewing them with awe at 
a distance, said, in reference to the vapor and noise, *'Mosi 
oa tunya," (smoke does sound there.) It was previously 
called Shongwe, the meaning of which I could not ascer- 
tain. The word for a "pot" resembles this, and it may 
mean a seething caldron; but I am not certain of it. 
Being persuaded that JMr. Oswell and myself were the very 
lirst Europeans who ever visited the Zambesi in the centre 
of the country, and that this is the connecting-link between 
the known and unknown portions of that river, I decided 



VICTORIA FALLS. 329 

to use the same liberty as the Makololo did, and gave the 
only English name I have affixed to any part of the 
country. No better proof of previous ignorance of this 
river could be desired than that an untravelled gentleman, 
who had spent a great part of his life in the study of the 
geography of Africa and knew every thing written on the 
subject from the time of Ptolemy downward, actually 
asserted in the " Athenseum," while I was coming up the 
Bed Sea, that this magnificent river, the Leeambye, ^^ had 
no connection with the Zambesi, but flowed under the 
Kalahari Desert and became lost ;" and " that, as all the 
old maps asserted, the Zambesi took its rise in the very 
hills to which we have now come." This modest assertion 
smacks exactly as if a native of Timbuctoo should declare 
that the " Thames" and the " Pool" were different rivers, 
he having seen neither the one nor the other. Leeambye 
and Zambesi mean the very same thing, — viz., the Eiver. 

Sekeletu intended to accompany me; but, one canoe 
only having come instead of the two he had ordered, he 
resigned it to me. After twenty minutes' sail from Kalai 
we came in sight, for the first time, of the columns of vapor 
appropriately called " smoke," rising at a distance of five 
or six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are 
burned in Africa. Five columns now arose, and, bending 
in the direction of the wind, they seemed placed against a 
low ridge covered with trees ; the tops of the columns at 
this distance appeared to mingle with the clouds. They 
were white below, and higher up became dark, so as to 
simulate smoke very closely. The whole scene was ex- 
tremely beautiful. The banks and islands dotted over the 
river are adorned with sylvan vegetation of great variety 
of color and form. At the period of our visit several trees 
were spangled over with blossoms. Trees have each their 
own physiognomy. There, towering over all, stands the 
great burly baobab, each of whose enormous arms would 
form the trunk of a large tree, besides groups of graceful 
palms, which, with their feathery-shaped leaves depicted 

28* 



330 VICTORIA FALLS. 

on the «ky, lend their beauty to the scene. As a hiero- 
glyphic they always mean " far from home," for one can 
never get over their foreign air in a picture or landscape. 
The silvery mohonono — which in the tropics is in form like 
the cedar of Lebanon — stands in pleasing contrast with the 
dark color of the motsouri, whose cypress-form is dotted 
over at present with its pleasant scarlet fruit. Some trees 
resemble the great spreading oak ; others assume the cha- 
racter of our own elms and chestnuts; but no one can 
imagine the beauty of the view from any thing witnessed 
in England. It had never been seen before by Luropean 
eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by 
angels in their flight. The only want felt is that of moun- 
tains in the background. The falls are bounded on three 
sides by ridges three hundred or four hundred feet in 
height, which are covered with forest, with the red soil 
'ippearing among the trees. When about half a mile from 
the falls, I left the canoe by which we had come down 
thus far, and embarked in a lighter one, wilh men well 
acquainted with the rapids, who, by passiiig down the 
centre of the stream in the eddies and still places caused 
by many jutting rocks, brought me to an island situated in 
the middle of the river and on the edge of the lip over 
which the water rolls. In coming hither there was danger 
of being swept down by the streams which rushed along 
on each side of the island; but the river was now low, and 
we sailed where it is totally impossible to go when the 
water is high. But, though we had reached the island, 
and were within a few yards of the spot a view from 
which would solve the whole problem^ I believe that no 
one could perceive where the vast bod;^ of water went : it 
seemed to lose itself in the earth, the opposite lip of the 
fissure into which it disappeared being only eighty feet 
distant. At least I did not comprehend it until, creeping 
with awe to the verge, I peered down into a large rent 
which had been made from bank to bank of the broad 
Zambesi, and saw that a stream of a thousand yards broad 



VICTORIA FALLS. 331 

leaped down a hundred feet and then became suddenly 
compressed into a space of fifteen or twenty yards. The 
entire falls are simply a crack made in a hard basaltic 
rock from the right to the left bank of the Zambesi, and 
then prolonged from the left bank away through thirty or 
forty miles of hills. If one imagines the Thames filled 
with low, tree-covered hills immediately beyond the tunnel, 
extending as far as Gravesend, the bed of black basaltic 
rock instead of London mud, and a fissure made therein 
from one end of the tunnel to the other down through the 
keystones of the arch, and prolonged from the left end of 
the tunnel through thirty miles of hills, the pathway being 
one hundred feet down from the bed of the river instead 
of what it is, with the lips of the fissure from eighty to 
one hundred feet apart, then fancy the Thames leaping 
boldly into the gulf, and forced there to change its direc- 
tion and flow from the right to the left bank and then 
rush boiling and roaring through the hills, he may have 
some idea of what takes place at this, the most wonderful 
sight I had witnessed in Africa. In looking down into the 
fissure on the right of the island, one sees nothing but a 
dense white cloud, which, at the time we visited the spot, 
had two bright rainbows on it. (The sun was on the 
meridian, and the declination about equal to the latitude 
of the place.) From this cloud rushed up a great jet of 
vapor exactl}^ like steam, and it mounted two hundred or 
three hundred feet high; there, condensing, it changed its 
hue to that of dark smoke, and came back in a constant 
shower, which soon wetted us to the skin. This shower 
falls chiefly on the opposite side of the fissure, and a few 
yards back from the lip there stands a straight hedge of 
evergreen trees, whose leaves are always wet. From their 
roots a number of little rills run back into the gulf; but, 
as they flow down the steep wall there, the column of 
vapor, in its ascent, licks them up clean off the rock, and 
away they mount again. They are constantly running 
down, but never reach the bottom. 



332 GIGANTIC FISSURE. 

On the left of the island we see the water at the bottom, 
a white rolling mass moving away to the prolongation of 
the fissure, which branches off near the left bank of the 
river. A piece of the rock has fallen off a spot on the left 
of the island, and juts out from the water below, and from 
it I judged the distance which the water falls to be about 
one hundred feet. The walls of this gigantic crack are 
perpendicular, and composed of one homogeneous mass of 
rock. The edge of that side over which the water falls is 
worn off two or three feet, and pieces have fallen away, so 
as to give it somewhat of a serrated appearance. That 
over which the water does not fall is quite straight, except 
at the left corner, where a rent appears and a piece seems 
inclined to fall off. Upon the whole, it is nearly in the 
state in which it was left at the period of its formation. 
The rock is dark brown in color, except about ten feet from 
the bottom, which is discolored by the annual rise of the 
water to that or a greater height. On the left side of the 
island we have a good view of the mass of water which 
causes one of the columns of vapor to ascend, as it leaps 
quite clear of the rock, and forms a thick unbroken fleece 
all the way to the bottom. Its whiteness gave the idea of 
snow, a sight I had not seen for many a day. As it broke 
into (if I may use the term) pieces of water all rushing on 
m the same direction, each gave off several rays of foam, 
exactly as bits of steel, when burned in oxygen gas, give 
off rays of sparks. The snow-white sheet seemed like 
myriads of small comets rushing on in one direction, each 
of which left behind its nucleus-rays of foam. I never saw 
the appearance referred to noticed elsewhere. It seemed 
to be the effect of the mass of water leaping at once clear 
of the rock and but slowly breaking up into &pray. 

I have mentioned that we saw five columns of vapoi 
ascending from this strange abyss. They are evidently 
formed by the compression suffered by the force of the 
water's own fall into an unyielding wedge-shaped space. 
Of the five columns, two on the right and one on the left of 



ISLAND GARDEN. 333 

the island were the largest, and the streams which formed 
them seemed each to exceed in size the falls of the Clyde 
at Stonebyres when that river is in flood. This was the 
period of low- water in the Leeambye; but, as far as I 
could guess, there was a flow of five or six hundred yards 
of water, which, at the edge of the fall, seemed at least 
three feet deep. 

Having feasted my eyes long on the beautiful sight, I 
returned to my friends at Kalai, and, sajnng to Sekeletu 
that he had nothing else worth showing in his country, his 
curiosity was excited to visit it the next day. I returned 
with the intention of taking a lunar observation from the 
island itself; but the clouds were unfavorable, consequently 
all my determinations of position refer to Kalai. (Lat. 17° 
51' 54" S., long. 25° 41' E.) Sekeletu acknowledged to feel- 
ing a little nervous at the probability of being sucked into 
the gulf before reaching the island. His companions 
amused themselves by throwing stones down, and won- 
dered to see them diminishing in size, and even disappear- 
ing, before they reached the water at the bottom. 

I had another object in view in my return to the island. 
I observed that it was covered with trees, the seeds of 
which had probably come down with the stream from the 
distant north, and several of which I had seen nowhere 
else, and every now and then the wind wafted a little of 
the condensed vapor over it, and kept the soil in a state of 
moisture, which caused a sward of grass, growing as green 
as on an English lawn. I selected a spot — not too near 
the chasm, for there the constant deposition of the moisture 
nourished numbers of polyp*, of a mushroom shape and 
fleshy consistence, but somewhat back — and made a little 
garden. I there planted about a hundred peach and apricot 
stones, and a quantity of coff'ee-seeds. I had attempted 
fruit-trees before, but, when left in charge of my Makololo 
friends, they were alwaj^s allowed to wither, after having 
vegetated, by being forgotten. I bargained for a hedge 
with one of the Makololo, and, if he is faithful, I have great 



S34 RESUMPTION OF THE JOURNEY. 

hopes of Mosioatunya's abilities as a nursery-man. My 
only source of fear is the hippopotami, whose footprints 1 
saw on the island. When the garden was prepared, I cut 
my initials on a tree, and the date 1855. This was the only 
instance in which I indulged in this piece of vanity. The 
garden stands in front, and, were there no hippopotami, I 
have no doubt but this will be the parent of all the gardens 
which may yet be in this new country. We then went up 
to Kalai again. 

20^A November. — Sekeletu and his large party having 
conveyed me thus far, and furnished me with a company 
of one hundred and fourteen men to carry the tusks to the 
coast, we bade adieu to the Makololo and proceeded north- 
ward to the Lekone. The country around is very beautiful, 
and was once well peopled with Batoka, who possessed 
enormous herds of cattle. When Sebituane came in former 
times, with his small but warlike party of Makololo, to 
this spot, a general rising took place of the Batoka through 
the whole country, in order to "eat him up;" but his usual 
success followed him, and, dispersing them, the Makololo 
obtained so many cattle that they could not take any note 
of the herds of sheep and goats. The tsetse has been 
brought by buffaloes into some districts where formerly 
cattle abounded. This obliged us to travel the first few 
stages by night. We could not well detect the nature of 
the country in the dim moonlight: the path, however, 
seemed to lead along the high bank of what may have 
been the ancient bed of the Zambesi before the fissure was 
made. The Lekone now winds in it in an opposite direc- 
tion to that in which the ancient river must have flowed. 

2Uh. — We remained a day at the village of Moyara. 
Here the valley in which the Lekone flows trends away to 
the eastward, while our course is more to the northeast. 
The country is rocky and rough, the soil being red sand, 
which is covered with beautiful green trees, yielding abun- 
dance of wild fruits. The father of Moyara was a powerful 
chief; but the son now sits among the ruins of the town, 



RAVAGE CUSTOMS OF BATOKA. S35 

with four or five wives and very few people. At his hamlet 
a number of stakes are planted in the ground, and I counted 
fifty-four human skulls hung on their points. These were 
Matebele, who, unable to aj^proach Sebituane on the island 
of Loyela, had returned sick and famishing. Moyara's 
fixther took advantage of their reduced condition, and, after 
putting them to death, mounted their heads in the Batoka 
fashion. The old man who perpetrated this deed now lies 
in the middle of his son's huts, with a lot of rotten ivory 
over his grave. One cannot help feeling thankful that the 
reign of such wretches is over. They inhabited the wholo 
of this side of the country, and were probably the barrier to 
the extension of the Portuguese commerce in this direction. 
When looking at these skulls, I remarked to Moyara that 
many of them were those of mere boys. He assented 
readily, and pointed them out as such. I asked why his 
father had killed boys. " To show his fierceness," was the 
answer. ^'Is it fierceness to kill boys?" "Yes : they had 
no business here." When I told him that this would pro- 
bably insure his own death if the Matebele came again, he 
replied, " When I hear of their coming I shall hide the 
bones." He was evidently proud of these trophies of 
his father's ferocity j and I was assured by other Batoka 
that few strangers ever returned from a visit to this quar- 
ter. If a man wished to curry favor with a Batoka chief, 
he ascertained when a stranger was about to leave, and 
waylaid him at a distance from the town, and when he 
brought his head back to the chief it was mounted as a 
trophy, the diiferent chiefs vicing with each other as to 
■which should mount the greatest number of skulls in his 
village. 

Next day we came to Namilanga, or " The Well of Joy." 
It is a small well dug beneath a very large fig-tree, the 
shade of which renders the water delightfully cool. The 
temperature through the day was 104° in the shade and 94° 
after sunset, but the air was not at all oppressive. This 
well receives its name from the fact that, in former times, 



336 KNOCKING OUT FRONT TEETH. 

marauding-parties, in returning with cattle, sat down here 
and were regaled with boyaloa, music, and the lullilooing 
of the women from the adjacent towns. 

All the surrounding country was formerly densely peo- 
pled, though now desolate and still. The old head-man 
of the place told us that his father once went to Bambala, 
where white traders lived, when our informant was a child, 
and returned when he had become a boy of about ten years 
He went again, and returned when it was time to knock 
out his son's teeth. As that takes place at the age of 
puberty, he must have spent at least five years in each 
journey. He added that many who went there never re- 
turned, because they liked that country better than this. 
They had even forsaken their wives and children ; and 
children had been so enticed and flattered by the finery 
bestowed upon them there that they had disowned their 
parents and adopted others. The place to which they had 
gone, which they named Bambala, was probably Damba- 
rari, which was situated close to Zumbo. This was the 
first intimation we had of intercourse with the whites. 
The Barotse, and all the other tribes in the central valley, 
have no such tradition as this; nor have either the one or 
the other any account of a trader's visit to them in ancient 
times. 

All theBatoka tribes followthe curious custom of knock- 
ing out the upper front teeth at the age of puberty. This 
IS done bj'' both sexes ; and though the under teeth, being 
relieved from the attrition of the uj^per, grow long and 
somewhat bent out and thereby cause the under lip to pro- 
trude in a most unsightly way, no young woman thinks 
herself accomplished until she has got rid of the upper in- 
cisors. This custom gives all the Batoka an uncouth, old- 
man-like appearance. Their laugh is hideous; yet they 
are so attached to it that even Sebituane was unable to 
eradicate the practice. He issued orders that none of the 
children living under him should be subjected to the custom 
by their parents, and disobedience to his mandates was 



THE TRAVELLING PARTY. 337 

usually punished with severity ; but, notwithstanding this, 
the children would appear in the streets without their in- 
cisors, and no one would confess to the deed. When ques- 
tioned respecting the origin of this practice, the Batoka 
reply that their object is to be like oxen, and those who 
retain their teeth they consider to resemble zebras. 
Whether this is the true reason or not it is difficult to 
say; but it is noticeable that the veneration for oxen which 
prevails in many tribes should be associated with hatred 
to the zebra, as among the Bakwains, that this operation 
is performed at the same age that circumcision is in other 
tribes, and that here that ceremony is unknown. The 
custom is so universal that a person who has his teeth is 
considered ugly; and occasionally, when the Batoka bor- 
rowed my looking-glass, the disparaging remark would be 
made respecting boys or girls who still retained their teeth, 
*' Look at the great teeth i'' Some of the Makololo give a 
more facetious explanation of the custom : they say that, 
the wife of a chief having in a quarrel bitten her husband's 
hand, he, in revenge, ordered her front teeth to be knocked 
out, and all the men in the tribe followed his example : but 
this does not explain why they afterward knocked out 
their own. 

The Batoka of the Zambesi are generally very dark in 
color and very degraded and negro-like in appearance, 
while those who live on the high lands we are now ascend- 
ing are frequently of the color of coffee and milk. We 
had a large number of the Batoka of Mokwine in our 
party, sent by Sekeletu to carry his tusks. Their greater 
degradation was probably caused by the treatment of their 
chiefs, — the barbarians of the islands. I found them more 
difficult to manage than any of the rest of my companions, 
being much less reasonable and impressible than the others. 
My party consisted of the head-men aforementioned, Sek- 
webu, and Kanyata. We were joined at the falls by 
another head-man of the Makololo, named Monahin, in 
command of the Batoka. We had also some of the Bana- 
W 29 



338 REMAINS OF ANTTQUTTY. 

joa under Mosisinyane, and, last of all, a small party of 
Bashubia and Barotse under Tuba Mokoro, which had been 
furnished by Sekeletu because of their ability to swim. 
They carried their paddles with them, and, as the Makololo 
suggested, were able to swim over the rivers by night and 
steal canoes if the inhabitants should be so unreasonable 
as to refuse to lend them. These different parties assorted 
together into messes : any orders were given through their 
head-man, and when food was obtained he distributed it to 
the mess. Each party knew its own spot in the encamp- 
ment ; and, as this was always placed so that our backs 
should be to the east, the direction from whence the pre- 
vailing winds came, no time was lost in fixing the sheds of 
our encampment. They each took it in turn to pull grass 
to make my bed ; so I lay luxuriously. 

November 26. — As the oxen could only move at night, in 
consequence of a fear that the buffaloes in this quarter 
might have introduced the tsetse, I usually performed the 
march by day on foot, while some of the men brought on 
the oxen by night. On coming to the villages under 
Marimba, an old man, we crossed the Unguesi, a rivulet 
which, like the Lekone, runs backward. It falls into the 
Leeambye a little above the commencement of the rapids. 

We passed the remains of a very large town, which, from 
the only evidence of antiquity afforded by ruins in this 
country, must have been inhabited for a long period : the 
millstones of gneiss, trap, and quartz were worn down two 
and a half inches perpendicularly. The ivory gravestones 
soon rot away. Those of Moyara's father, who must have 
died not more than a dozen years ago, were crumbling into 
powder ; and we found this to be generally the case all 
over the Batoka country. The region around is pretty 
well covered with forest ; but there is abundance of open 
pasturage, and, as we are ascending in altitude, we find 
the grass to be short and altogether unlike the tangled 
herbage of the Barotse valley. 



LOW HILLS. 339 



CHAPTEE XXYII. 

THE BATOKA COUNTRY — DR. LIVINGSTONE VISITS THE CHIEF 

MONZE. 

November 27. — Still at Marimba's. In the adjacent 
country palms abound, but none of that species which 
yields the oil: indeed, that is met with only near the 
coast. There are numbers of flowers and bulbs just shoot- 
ing up from the soil. The surface is rough and broken 
into gullies; and, though the country is parched, it has 
not that appearance, so many trees having put forth their 
fresh green leaves at the time the rains ought to have 
come. Among the rest stands the mola, with its dark 
brownish-green color and spreading oak-like form. In the 
distance there are ranges of low hills. On the north we 
have one called Kanjele, and to the east that of Kaonka, to 
which we proceed to-morrow. We have made a consider- 
able detour to the north, both on account of our wish to 
avoid the tsetse and to visit the people. Those of Kaonka 
are the last Batoka we shall meet in friendship with the 
Makololo. 

November 28. — The inhabitants of the last of Kaonka's 
villages complained of being plundered by the independent 
Batoka. The tribes in front of this are regarded by the 
Makololo as in a state of rebellion. I promised to speak to 
the rebels on the subject, and enjoined on Kaonka the duty 
of giving them no offence. According to Sekeletu's order, 
Kaonka gave us the tribute of maize-corn and groundnuts 
which woifld otherwise have gone to Linyanti. This had 
been done at every village, and we thereby saved the 
people the trouble of a journey to the capital. My own 
Batoka had brought away such loads of provisions from 
their homes that we were in no want of food. 



340 BORDER-TERRITORY. 

After leaving Kaonka, we travelled over an uninhabited, 
gently-undulating, and most beautiful district, the border- 
territory between those who accept and those who reject 
the sway of the Makololo. The face of the country appears 
as if in long waves running north and south. There are 
no rivers, though water stands in pools in the hollows. 
We were now come into the country which my people all 
magnify as a perfect paradise. Sebituane was driven from 
it by the Matebele. It suited him exactly for cattle, corn, 
and health. The soil is dr^^, and often a reddish sand: 
there are few trees, but fine large shady ones stand dotted 
here and there over the country where towns formerly 
stood. One of the fig family I measured and found to bo 
forty feet in circumference ; the heart had been burned out, 
and some one had made a lodging in it, for we saw the 
remains of a bed and a fire. The sight of the open countiy, 
with the increased altitude we were attaining, was most 
refreshing to the spirits. Large game abound. We see in 
the distance buffaloes, elands, hartebeest, gnus, and ele- 
phants, all very tame, as no one disturbs them. Lions, 
which always accompany other large animals, roared about 
us; but, as it was moonlight, there was no danger. In the 
evening, while standing on a mass of granite, one began to 
roar at me, though it was still light. The temperature was 
pleasant, as the rains, though not universal, had fallen in 
many places. It was very cloudy, preventing observations. 
The temperature at 6 a.m. was 70°, at mid-day 90°, in the 
evening 84°. This is very pleasant on the high lands, with 
but little moisture in the air. 

On the 30th we crossed the river Kalomo, which is about 
fifty yards broad, and is the only stream that never dries 
up on this ridge. The current is rapid, and its course is 
toward the south, as it joins the Zambesi at some distance 
below the falls. The Unguesi and Lekone, with their 
feeders, flow westward, this river to the south, and all 
those to which we are about to come take an easterly di- 
rection. We were thus at the apex of the ridge, and found 



WOUNDED BUFFALO ASSISTED. 341 

that, as water boiled at 202°, our altitude above the level 
of the sea was over 5000 feet. 

We met an elephant on the Kalomo which had no tusks 
This is as rare a thing in Africa as it is to find them witk 
tusks in Ceylon. As soon as she saw us she made off. It 
is remarkable to see the fear of man operating even on this 
huge beast. Buffaloes abound, and we see large herds of 
them feeding in all directions by day. When much dis- 
turbed by man, they retire into the densest parts of the 
forest and feed by night only. We secured a fine large 
bull by crawling close to a herd. When shot, he fell down, 
and the rest, not seeing their enemy, gazed about, wonder- 
ing where the danger lay. The others came back to it, 
and, when we showed ourselves, much to the amusement 
of my companions, they lifted him up with their horns, 
and, half supporting him in the crowd, bore him away. 
All these wild animals usually gore a wounded companion 
and expel him from the herd ; even zebras bite and kick 
an unfortunate or a diseased one. It is intended by this 
instinct that none but the perfect and healthy ones should 
propagate the species. In this case they manifested their 
usual propensity to gore the wounded ; but our appearance 
at that moment caused them to take flight, and this, with 
the goring being continued a little, gave my men the im- 
pression that they were helping away their wounded com- 
panion. He was shot between the fourth and fifth ribs ; 
the ball passed through both lungs and a rib on the oppo- 
site side, and then lodged beneath the skin. But, though 
it was eight ounces in weight, yet he ran off some distance, 
and was secured only by the people driving him into a pool 
of water and killing him there with their spears. The 
herd ran away in the direction of our camp, and then came 
bounding past us again. We took refuge on a large ant- 
hill, and as they rushed by us at full gallop I had a good 
opportunity of seeing that the leader of a herd of about 
sixty was an old cow : all the others allowed her a full 
half-length in their front. On her withers sat about twenty 

29* 



342 THE BUFFALO-BIRD. 

buffalo-birds, (Textor erythrorhynchus, Smith,) which act the 
part of guardian spirits to the animals. When the bufliilo 
is quietly feeding, this bird may be seen hopping on the 
ground picking up food, or sitting on its back ridding it of 
the insects with which their skins are sometimes infested. 
The sight of the bird being much more acute than that of 
the buffalo, it is soon alarmed by the approach of any dan- 
ger, and, flying up, the buffaloes instantly raise their heads 
to discover the cause which has led to the sudden flight of 
their guardian. They sometimes accompany the buffaloes 
in their flight on the wing; at other times they sit as above 
described. 

Another African bird — namely, the Buphaga Afncana — 
attends the rhinoceros for a similar purpose. It is called 
*^kala" in the language of the Bechuanas. When these 
people wish to express their dependence upon another, 
they address him as "my rhinoceros,'^ as if they were the 
birds. The satellites of a chief go by the same name. 
This bird cannot be said to depend entirely on the insects 
on that animal, for its hard, hairless skin is a protection 
against all except a few spotted ticks; but it seems to be 
attached to the beast somewhat as the domestic dog is to 
man; and, while the buffalo is alarmed by the sudden flying 
up of its sentinel, the rhinoceros, not having keen sight, 
but an acute ear, is warned by the crj of its associate, the 
Buphaga Africana. The rhinoceros feeds by night, and its 
sentinel is frequently heard in the morning uttering its 
well-known call as it searches for its bulky companion. 
One species of this bird, observed in Angola, possesses a bill of 
a peculiar scoop or stone-forceps form, as if intended only 
to tear off insects from the skin; and its claws are as sharp 
as needles, enabling it to hang on to an animal's ear while 
performing a useful service within it. This sharpness of 
the claws allows the bird to cling to the nearly-insensible 
cuticle without irritating the nerves of pain on the true 
skin, exactly as a burr does to the human hand; but, in the 
case of the Buphaga Africana and erythrorhyncha^ other 



LEADERS OP HERDS. 343 

food is partaken of, for we observed flocks of them roosting 
on the reeds in spots where neither tame nor wild animals 
were to be found. 

The most wary animal in a herd is generally the '^ leader." 
When it is shot, the others often seem at a loss what to do, 
and stop in a state of bewilderment. I have seen them 
then attempt to follow each other, and appear quite con- 
fused, no one knowing for half a minute or more where to 
direct the flight. On one occasion I happened to shoot the 
leader, a young zebra mare, which at some former time 
had been bitten on the hind-leg by a carnivorous animal, 
and, thereby made unusually wary, had, in consequence, 
become a leader. If they see either one of their own herd 
or any other animal taking to flight, wild animals invariably 
flee. The most timid thus naturally leads the rest. It is 
not any other peculiarity, but simply this provision, which 
is given them for the preservation of the race. The great 
increase of wariness which is seen to occur when the females 
bring forth their young, causes all the leaders to be at that 
time females; and there is a probability that the separa- 
tion of sexes into distinct herds, which is annually observed 
in many antelopes, arising from the simple fact that the 
greater caution of the she antelopes is partaken of only by 
the young males, and their more frequent flights now have 
the effect of leaving the old males behind. I am inclined 
to believe this, because they are never seen in the act of 
expelling the males. 

December 2, 1855. — We remained near a small hill, called 
Maundo, where we began to be frequently invited by the 
honey-guide, (^Cuculus indicator.) Wishing to ascertain the 
truth of the native assertion that this bird is a deceiver, 
and by its call sometimes leads to a wild beast and not to 
honey, I inquired if any of my men had ever been led by 
this friendly little bird to any thing else than what its 
name implies. Only one of the one hundred and fourteen 
could say he had been led to an elephant instead of a hive. 
I am quite convinced that the majority of people who 



344 SEBITUANE^S FORMER RESIDENCE 

commit themselves to its guidance are led to honey, and tc 
it alone. 

On the 3d we crossed the river Mozuma, or river of Dila, 
having travelled through a beautifully-undulating pastoral 
country. To the south, and a little east of this, stands the 
hill Taba Cheu, or *' White Mountain/' from a mass of white 
rock, probably dolomite, on its top. But none of the hills 
are of any great altitude. 

At the river of Dila we saw the spot where Sebituane 
lived, and Sekwebu pointed out the heaps of bones of cattle 
which the Makololo had been obliged to slaughter after 
performing a march with great herds captured from the 
Batoka through a patch of the fatal tsetse. When Sebi- 
tuane saw the symptoms of the poison, he gave orders to 
his people to eat the cattle. He still had vast numbers; 
and when the Matebele, crossing the Zambesi opposite this 
part, came to attack him, he invited the Batoka to take 
repossession of their herds, he having so many as to be 
unable to guide them in their flight. The country was at 
that time exceedingly rich in cattle, and, besides pasturage, 
it is all well adapted for the cultivation of native produce. 
Being on the eastern slope of the ridge, it receives more 
rain than any part of the westward. Sekwebu had been 
instructed to point out to me the advantages of this posi- 
tion for a settlement, as that which all the Makololo had 
never ceased to regret. It needed no eulogy from Sek- 
webu; I admired it myself, and the enjoyment of good 
health in fine open scenery had an exhilarating effect on 
my spirits. The great want was population, the Batoka 
having all taken refuge in the hills. We were now in the 
vicinity of those whom the Makololo deem rebels, and felt 
some anxiety as to how we should be received. 

On the 4th we reached their first village. Eemaining at 
a distance of a quarter of a mile, we sent two men to 
inform them who we were and that our purposes were 
peaceful. The head-man came and spoke civilly, but, when 
nearly dark, the peoi)le of another village arrived and 



PROPHETIC FRENZY. 345 

behaved very differently. They began by trying to spear 
a young man who had gone for water. Then they ap- 
proached us, and one came forward howling at the top of 
his voice in the most hideous manner : his eyes were shot 
out, his lips covered with foam, and every muscle of his 
frame quivered. He came near to me, and, having a small 
battle-axe in his hand, alarmed my men lest he might 
do violence; but they were afraid to disobey my previous 
orders and to follow their own inclination by knocking 
him on the head. I felt a little alarmed too, but would not 
show fear before my own people or strangers, and kept a 
sharp look-out on the little battle-axe. It seemed to me a 
case of ecstasy or prophetic frenzy voluntarily produced. I 
felt it would be a sorry way to leave the world to get 
my head chopped by a mad savage, though that, perhaps, 
would be preferable to hydrophobia or delirium tremens. 
Sekwebu took a spear in his right hand, as if to pierce a 
bit of leather, but in reality to plunge it into the man if he 
offered violence to me. After my courage had been suffi- 
ciently tested, I beckoned with the head to the civil head- 
man to remove him ; and he did so by drawing him aside. 
This man pretended not to know what he was doing. I 
would fain have felt his pulse, to ascertain whether the 
violent trembling were not feigned, but had not much 
inclination to go near the battle-axe again. There was, 
however, a flow of perspiration, and the excitement con- 
tinued fully half an hour, then gradually ceased. This 
paroxysm is the direct opposite of hypnotism, and it is 
singular that it has not been tried in Europe as well as 
clairvoyance. This second batch of visitors took no pains 
to conceal their contempt for our small party, saying to 
each other, in a tone of triumph, " They are quite a god- 
Bend !" — literally, '' God has apportioned them to us." " They 
are lost among the tribes I" " They have wandered in order 
to be destroyed, and what can they do without shields 
among so many?" Some of them asked if there were no 
other parties. Sekeletu had ordered my men not to take 



846 CLOTHING DESPISED. 

their shields, as in the case of my first company. We 
were looked upon as unarmed, and an easy prey. We 
prepared against a night-attack by discharging and re- 
loading our guns, which were exactly the same in number 
(five) as on the former occasion, as I allowed my late com- 
panions to retain those which I purchased at Loanda. We 
were not molested; but some of the enemy tried to lead us 
toward the Bashukulompo, who are considered to be the 
fiercest race in this quarter. As we knew our direction to 
the confluence of the Kafue and Zambesi, we declined their 
guidance, and the civil head-man of the evening before 
then came along with us. Crowds of natives hovered 
round us in the forest ; but he ran forward and explained, 
and we were not molested. That night we slept by a little 
village under a low range of hills, which are called Chiza- 
mena. The country here is more woody than on the high 
lands we had left; but the trees are not in general large. 

When we had passed the outskirting villages which alone 
consider themselves in a state of war with the Makololo, 
we found the Batoka, or Batonga, as they here call them- 
selves, quite friendly. Great numbers of them came from 
all the surrounding villages with presents of maize and 
masuka, and expressed great joy at the first appearance of 
a white man and harbinger of peace. The women clothe 
themselves better than the Balonda, but the men go inpuris 
naturalibus. They walk about without the smallest sense 
of shame. They have even lost the tradition of the " fig- 
leaf I asked a fine, large-bodied old man if he did not 
think it would be better to adopt a little covering. He 
looked with a pitying leer, and laughed with surprise at my 
thinking him at all indecent : he evidently considered him- 
self above such weak superstition. I told them that, on 
my return, I should have my family with me, and no one 
must come near us in that state. '^ What shall we put on ? 
we have no clothing." It was considered a good joke 
when I told them that, if they had nothing else, they must 
put on a bunch of grass. 



STRANGE MODE OP SALUTATION. 847 

The farther we advanced the more we found the country 
fcwarming with inhabitants. Great numbers came to see 
the white man, — a sight they had never beheld before. They 
always brought presents of maize and masuka. Their 
mode of salutation is quite singular. They throw them- 
selves on their backs on the ground, and, rolling from side 
to side, slap the outside of their thighs as expressions of 
thankfulness and welcome, uttering the words "Kina 
bomba." This method of salutation was to me very dis- 
agreeable, and I never could get reconciled to it. I called 
out, " Stop, stop! I don't want that;" but they, imagining 
I was dissatisfied, only tumbled about more furiously and 
slapped their thighs with greater vigor. The men being 
totally unclothed, this performance imparted to my mind 
a painful sense of their extreme degradation. My own 
Batoka were much more degraded than the Barotse, and 
more reckless. We had to keep a strict watch, so as not 
to be involved by their thieving from the inhabitants, in 
whose country and power we were. We had also to watch 
the use they made of their tongues, for some within hear- 
ing of the villagers would say, " I broke all the pots of 
that village," or "I killed a man there." They were 
eager to recount their soldier-deeds when they were in 
company with the Makololo in former times as a conquer- 
ing army. They were thus placing us in danger by their 
remarks. I called them together, and spoke to them about 
their folly, and gave them a pretty plain intimation that I 
meant to insist upon as complete subordination as I had 
secured in my former journey, as being necessary for the 
safety of the party. Happily, it never was needful to 
resort to any other measure for their obedience, as they all 
believed that I would enforce it. 

December 6. — We passed the night near a series of villages. 
Before we came to a stand under our tree, a man came 
cunning to us with hands and arms firmly bound with 
jords behind his back, entreating me to release him. 
When I had dismounted, the head-man of the village 



348 INTERVIEW WITH MONZE. 

advanced, and I inquired the prisoner's offence. He stated 
that he had come from the Bashukulompo as a fugitive, and 
he had given hira a wife and garden and a supply of seed; 
but, on refusing a demand for more, the prisoner had 
threatened to kill him, and had been seen the night before 
skulking about the village, apparently with that intention. 
I declined interceding unless he would confess to his father- 
in-law, and promise amendment. He at first refused to 
promise to abstain from violence, but afterward agreed. 
The father-in-law then said that he would take him to the 
village and release him; but the prisoner cried out, bitterly, 
*<He will kill me there! don't leave me, white man." I 
ordered a knife, and one of the villagers released him on 
the spot. His arms were cut by the cords, and he was 
quite lame from the blows he had received. 

We spent Sunday, the 10th, at Monze's village, w^ho is 
considered the chief of all the Batoka we have seen. He 
lives near the hill Kisekise, whence we have a view of at 
least thirty miles of open undulating country, covered with 
short grass and having but few trees. These open lawns 
would in any other land, as well as this, be termed pas- 
toral ; but the people have no cattle, and only a few goats 
and fowls. 

The chief Monze came to us on Sunday morning, wrapped 
in a large cloth, and rolled himself about in the dust, 
screaming ^'Kina bomba," as they all do. The sight of 
great naked men wallowing on the ground, though intended 
to do me honor, was always very painful : it made me feel 
thankful that my lot had been cast in such different cir- 
cumstances from that of so many of my fellow-men. One 
of his wives accompanied him; she would have been comely 
if her teeth had been spared : she had a little battle-axe in 
her hand, and helped her husband to scream. She was» 
much excited, for she had never seen a white man oefore 
We ra+her liked Monze, for he soon felt at home among us, 
and kept up conversation during much of the day. One 
head-man of a village after another arrived, and each oi 



FRIENDLY FEELINGS TOWARD EUROPEANS. 349 

them supplied us liberally -with maize, groundnuts, and 
corn. Monze gave us a goat and a fowl, and appeared 
highly satisfied with a present of some handkerchiefs I had 
got in my supplies left at the island. Being of printed 
cotton, they excited great admiration; and, when I put a 
gaudy-colored one as a shawl about his child, he said that 
he would send for all his people to make a dance about it. 
In telling them that my object was to open up a path 
whereby they might, by getting merchandise for ivory, 
avoid the guilt of selling their children, I asked Monzo, 
with about one hundred and fifty of his men, if they would 
like a white man to live among them and teach them. All 
expressed high satisfaction at the prospect of the white 
man and his path : they would protect both him and his 
property. I asked the question, because it would be of 
great importance to have stations in this healthy region, 
whither agents oppressed by sickness might retire, and 
which would serve, moreover, as part of a chain of com- 
munication between the interior and the coast. The 
answer does not mean much more than what I know, by 
other means, to be the case, — that a white man of good sense 
would be welcome and safe in all these parts. By upright- 
ness, and laying himself out for the good of the people, ho 
would be known all over the country as a benefactor of tho 
race. None desire Christian instruction, for of it they 
have no idea. But the people are now humbled by the 
scourgings they have received, and seem to be in a favor- 
able state for the reception of the gospel. The gradual 
restoration of their former prosperity in cattle, simul- 
taneously with instruction, would operate beneficially upon 
their minds. The language is a dialect of the other negro 
languages in the great valley; and, as many of the Batoka 
living under the Makololo understand both it and the 
Sichuana, missionaries could soon acquire it through that 
medium. 

Monze had never been visited by any white man, but 
had seen black native traders, who, he said, came for ivory, 

80 



,^50 GRATITUDE OF RELEASED CAPTIVE. 

not for slaves. He bad heard of white men passing far to 
the east of him to Cazembe, — referring, no doubt, to Pereira, 
Lacerda, and others, who have visited that chief. 

Monze came on Monday morning, and^ on parting, pre- 
sented us with a piece of a buffalo which had been killed 
the day before by lions. "VYe crossed the rivulet Makoe, 
which runs westward into the Kafue, and went northward 
in order to visit Semalembue, an influential chief there. 
We slept at the village of Monze's sister, who also passes 
by the same name. Both he and his sister are feminine in 
their appearance, but disfigured by the foolish custom of 
knocking out the upper front teeth. 

It is not often that jail-birds turn out well ; but the first 
person who appeared to welcome us at the village of 
Monze's sister was the prisoner we had released in the 
way. He came with a handsome present of corn and 
meal, and, after praising our kindness to the villagers who 
had assembled around us, asked them, "What do you stand 
gazing at? Don't you know that they have mouths like 
other people ?" He then set off and brought large bundles 
of grass and wood for our comfort, and a pot to cook our 
food in. 

December 12. — The morning presented the appearance of 
a continuous rain from the north, — the first time we had 
seen it set in from that quarter in such a southern latitude. 
In the Bechuana country, continuous rains are always from 
the northeast or east, while in Londa and Angola they are 
fi'om the north. At Pungo Andongo, for instance, the 
whitewash is all removed from the north side of the houses. 
It cleared up, however, about mid-day, and Monze's sister 
conducted us a mile or two upon the road. On parting, 
she said that she had forwarded orders to a distant village 
to send food to the point where we should sleep. In ex- 
pressing her joy at the prospect of living in peace, she said 
it would be so pleasant '^ to sleep without dreaming of any 
one pursuing them with a spear." 

In our front we had ranges of hills called Chamai, covered 



EFFECT OF RAINS. 851 

with trees. We crossed the river Nackachinta, flowing 
westward into the Kafue, and then passed over ridges of 
rocks of the same mica schist which we found so abundant 
in Golungo Alto : here they were surmounted by reddish 
porphyry and finely-laminated feldspathic grit with trap. 

As we passed along, the people continued to supply us 
with food in great abundance. They had by some means 
or other got a knowledge that I carried medicine, and, 
somewhat to the disgust of my men, who wished to keep 
it all to themselves, brought their sick children foi cure. 
Some of them I found had hooping-cough, which is one of 
the few epidemics that range through this country. 



CHAPTEE XXYIII. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE DESCENDS THE ZAMBESI RIVER TO ITS CON- 
FLUENCE WITH THE LOANGWA. 

ISth. — The country is becoming very beautiful, and fur- 
rowed by deep valleys; the underlying rocks, being igneous, 
have yielded fertile soil. There is great abundance of large 
game. The buffaloes select open spots, and often eminences, 
as standing-places through the day. We crossed the Mbai, 
and found in its bed rocks of pink marble. Some little 
hills near it are capped by marble of beautiful whiteness, 
the underlying rock being igneous. Violent showers occur 
frequently on the hills, and cause such sudden sweeping floods 
in these rivulets that five of our men, who had gone to the 
other side for firewood, were obliged to swim back. The 
temperature of the air is lowered considerably by the daily 
rains. Several times the thermometer at sunrise has been 
as low as 68°, and 74° at sunset. Generally, however, it 
stood at from 72° to 74° at sunrise, 90° to 96° at midwjay, and 



I 



852 AN ELEPHANT SHOT. 

80® to 84° at sunset. The sensation, however, as before 
remarked, was not disagreeable. 

14th. — We entered a most beautifal valley, abounding in 
large game. Finding a buffalo lying down, I went to 
secure him for our food. Three balls did not kill him, and, 
as he turned round as if for a charge, we ran for the shelter 
of some rocks. Before wo gained them, we found that 
three elephants, j)robably attracted by the strange noise, 
had cut off our retreat on that side : they, however, turned 
short off, and allowed us to gain the rocks. We then saw 
that the buffalo was moving off quite briskly, and, in order 
not to be entirely balked, I tried a long shot at the last of 
the elephants, and, to the great joy of my people, broke his 
fore-leg. The young men soon brought him to a stand, 
and one shot in the brain despatched him. I was right 
glad to see the joy manifested at such an abundant supply 
of meat. 

On the following day, while my men were cutting up 
the elephant, great numbers of the villagers came to enjoy 
the feast. We were on the side of a fine green valley, 
studded here and there with trees and cut by numerous 
rivulets. I had retired from the noise, to take an observa- 
tion among some rocks of laminated grit, when I beheld 
an elephant and her calf at the end of the valley, about 
two miles distant. The calf was rolling in the mud, and 
the dam was standing fanning herself with her great ears. 
As I looked at them through my glass, I saw a long string 
of my own men appearing on the other side of them, and 
Sekwebu came and told me that these men had gone off,, 
saying, '' Our father will see to-day what sort of men he 
has got." I then went higher up the side of the valley, in 
order to have a distinct view of their mode of hunting. 
The goodly beast, totally unconscious of the approach of 
an enemy, stood for some time suckling her young one, 
which seemed about two years old : they then went into a 
pit containing mud, and smeared themselves all over with 
it, the little one frisking about his dam, flapping his cara 




30* 



ELErilANT-nUNTING. 355 

and tossing his trunk incessantly, in elephantine fashion. 
She kept flapping her ears and wagging her tail, as if in 
the height of enjoyment. Then began the piping of her 
enemies, which was performed by blowing into a tube, or 
the hands closed together, as boys do into a key. They 
call out to attract the animal's attention : — 

" chief! chief! we have come to kill you. 

chief! chief! many more will die besides you," &c. 
*' The gods have said it," &c. &c. 

Both animals expanded their ears and listened, then left 
their bath as the crowd rushed toward them. The little 
one ran forward toward the end of the valley, but, seeing 
the men there, returned to his dam. She placed herself on 
the danger-side of her calf, and passed her proboscis over it 
again and again, as if to assure it of safety. She frequently 
looked back to the men, who kept up an incessant shouting, 
singing, and piping ; then looked at her young one and 
ran after it, sometimes sideways, as if her feelings were 
divided between anxiety to protect her offspring and desire 
to revenge the temerity of her persecutors. The men kept 
about a hundred yards in her rear, and some that distance 
from her flanks, and continued thus until she was obliged 
to cross a rivulet. The time spent in descending and get- 
ting up the opposite bank allowed of their coming up to 
the edge and discharging their spears at about twenty 
yards' distance. After the first discharge she appeared with 
her sides red with blood, and, beginning to flee for her own 
life, seemed to think no more of her young. I had pre- 
viously sent off Sekwebu with orders to spare the calf. It 
ran very fast, but neither young nor old ever enter into a 
gallop : their quickest pace is only a sharp walk. Before 
Sekwebu could reach them, the calf had taken refuge in 
the water, and was killed. The pace of the dam gradually 
became slower. She turned with a shriek of rage, and 
made a furious charge back among the men. They 
vanished at right angles to her course, or sideways, and, 
as she ran straight on, she went through the whole party 



356 ELEPHANT-HUNTING. 

but came near no one except a man who wore a piece of 
cloth on his shoulders. Bright clothing is always dangerous 
in these cases. She charged three or four times, and, ex- 
cept in the first instance, never went farther than one 
hundred yards. She often stood after she had crossed a 
rivulet, and faced the men, though she received fresh 
spears. It was by this process of spearing and loss of 
blood that she was killed; for at last, making a short 
charge, she staggered round and sank down dead in a 
kneeling posture. I did not see the whole hunt, having 
been tempted away by both sun and moon appearing 
unclouded. I turned from the spectacle of the destruction 
of noble animals, which might be made so useful in Africa, 
with a feeling of sickness; and it was not relieved by the 
recollection that the ivory was mine, though that was the 
case. I regretted to see them killed, and more especially 
the young one, the meat not being at all necessary at that 
time ; but it is right to add that I did not feel sick when 
my own blood was up the day before. We ought, perhaps, 
to judge those deeds more leniently in which we ourselves 
have no temptation to engage. Had I not been previously 
guilty of doing the very same thing, I might have prided 
myself on superior humanity when I experienced the 
nausea in viewing my men kill these two. 

Passing the rivulet Losito, and through the ranges of 
hills, we reached the residence of Semalembue on the 18tli. 
His village is situated at the bottom of ranges through 
which the Kafue finds a passage, and close to the bank 
of that river. The Kafue, sometimes called Kahbwhe or 
Bashukulompo Eiver, is upward of two hundred yards wide 
here, and full of hippopotami, the young of which may be 
seen perched on the necks of their dams. At this point we 
had reached about the same level as Linyanti. 

Semalembue paid us a visit soon after our arrival, and 
«iaid that he had often heard of me, and, now that he had 
the pleasure of seeing me, he feared that I should sleep the 
first night at his village hungry. This was considered the 



SEMALEMBUE AND HIS PEOILE. 357 

handsome way of introducing a present, for he then handed 
live or six baskets of meal and maize, and an enormous one 
of groundnuts. Next morning he gave me about twenty 
baskets more of meal. I could make but a poor return for 
his kindness; but he accepted my apologies politely, saying 
that he knew there were no goods in the country from 
which I had come, and, in professing great joy at the 
words of peace I spoke, he said, " Now I shall cultivate 
largely, in the hope of eating and sleeping in peace/' It 
is noticeable that all whom we have yet met eagerly caught 
up the idea of living in peace as the probable effect of the 
gospel. They require no explanation of the existence of 
the Deity. Sekwebu makes use of the term " Eeza," and 
they appear to understand at once. Like negroes in 
general, they have a strong tendency to worship; and I 
heard that Semalembue gets a good deal of ivory from the 
surrounding tribes on pretence of having some supernatural 
power. He transmits this to some other chiefs on the 
Zambesi, and receives in return English cotton goods which 
come from Mozambique by Babisa traders. My men here 
beg-an to sell their beads and other ornaments for cotton 
cloth. Semalembue was accompanied by about forty peo- 
ple, all large men. They have much wool on their heads, 
which is sometimes drawn all together up to the crown 
and tied there in a large tapering bunch. The forehead 
and round by the ears is shaven close to the base of this 
tuft. Others draw out the hair on one side and twist it 
into little strings. The rest is taken over and hangs above 
the ear, which gives the appearance of having a cap cocked 
jauntily on the side of the head. 

The mode of salutation is by clapping the hands. Yarious 
parties of women came from the surrounding villages to 
see the white man, but all seemed very much afraid. Their 
fear, which I seldom could allay, made them, when ad- 
dressed, clap their hands with increasing vigor. Sekwebu 
was the only one of the Makololo who knew this part of 
the country; and this was the region which to his mind 



358 THE KAFUE. 

was best adapted for the residence of a tribe. The natives 
generally have a good idea of the nature of the soil and 
pasturage, and Sekwebu expatiated with great eloquence on 
the capabilities of this part for supplying the wants of the 
Makololo. There is certainly abundance of room at pre- 
sent in the country for thousands and thousands more of 
population. 

We passed near the Losito, a former encampment of 
the Matebele, with whom Sekwebu had lived. At the 
sight of the bones of the oxen they had devoured, and the 
spot where savage dances had taken place, though all de- 
serted now, the poor fellow burst out into a wild Matebele 
song. He pointed out also a district, about two days and 
a half west of Semalembue, where Sebituane had formerly 
dwelt. There is a hot fountain on the hills there named 
"Nakalombo,'' which may be seen at a distance emitting 
steam. ''There," said Sekwebu, ''had your Molekane [Sebi- 
tuane] been alive, he would have brought you to live with 
him. You would be on the bank of the river; and, by 
taking canoes, you would at once sail down to the Zambesi 
and visit the white people at the sea." 

The Kafue enters a narrow gorge close by the village of 
Semalembue : as the hill on the north is called Bolengwe, 
I apply that name to the gorge, (lat. 15° 48' 19" S., long. 28° 
22' E.) Semalembue said that he ought to see us over the 
river; so he accompanied us to a pass about a mile south of 
his village, and when we entered among the hills we found 
the ford of the Kafue. On parting with Semalembue I 
put on him a shirt, and he went away with it apparently 
much delighted. 

The ford was at least 250 yards broad, but rocky and 
shallow. After crossing it in a canoe, we went along the 
left bank, and were completely shut in by high hills. 

Semalembue intended that we should go a little to the 
northeast, and pass through the people called Babimpe, and 
we saw some of that people, who invited us to come that 
way on account of its being smoother ; but, feeling anxious 



BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. 359 

to get back to the Zambesi again, we decided to cross the 
hills toward its confluence with the Kafue. The distance, 
which in a straight line is bat small, occupied three days. 
The precipitous nature of the sides of this mass of hills 
knocked up the oxen and forced us to slaughter two, one 
of which — a very large one, and ornamented with upward 
of thirty pieces of its own skin detached and hanging 
down — Sekeletu had wished us to take to the white people 
as a specimen of his cattle. We saw many elephants among 
the hills, and my men ran off and killed three. When we 
came to the top of the outer range of the hills, we had a 
glorious view. At a short distance below us we saw the 
Kafue, wending away over a forest-clad plain to the con- 
fluence, and on the other side of the Zambesi, beyond that, 
lay a long range of dark hills. A line of fleecy clouds 
appeared lying along the course of that river at their base. 
The plain below us, at the left of the Kafue, had more large 
game on it than anywhere else I had seen in Africa. 
Hundreds of buffaloes and zebras grazed on the open spaces, 
and there stood lordly elephants feeding majestically, 
nothing moving apparently but the proboscis. I wished 
that 1 had been able to take a photograph of a scene so 
seldom beheld, and which is destined, as guns increase, to 
pass away from earth. When we descended, we found all 
the animals remarkably tame. The elephants stood beneath 
the trees, fanning themselves with their large ears, as if 
they did not see us at 200 or 300 yards' distance. The 
number of animals was quite astonishing, and made mo 
think that here I could realize an image of that time when 
Megatheria fed undisturbed in the primeval forests. 

We tried to leave one morning, but the rain, coming on 
afresh, brought us to a stand, and after waiting an hour, 
wet to the skin, we were fain to retrace our steps to our 
sheds. These rains were from the east, and the clouds 
might be seen on the hills exactly as the "Table-cloth" on 
Table Mountain. This was the first wetting we had got 
since we left Sesheke, for I had gained some experience in 



,*](^0 IMPROVED HEALTII : THE BEASON. 

travelling. In Londa we braved the rain, and, as I despised 
being carried in our frequent passage through running 
water, I was pretty constantly drenched; but now, when 
we saw a storm coming, we invariably halted. The men 
soon pulled grass sufficient to make a little shelter for 
themselves by placing it on a bush, and, having got my 
camp-stool and umbrella, with a little grass under my feet, 
I kept myself perfectly dry. We also lighted large fires, 
and the men were not chilled by streams of water running 
down their persons and abstracting the heat, as they would 
have been had they been exposed to the rain. When it 
was over they warmed themselves by the fires, and we 
travelled on comfortably. The effect of this care was that 
we had much less sickness than with a smaller party in 
journeying to Loanda. Another improvement made from 
my experience was avoiding an entire change of diet. In 
going to Loanda I took little or no European food, in order 
not to burden my men and make them lose spirit, but 
trusted entirely to what might be got by the gun and the 
liberality of the Balonda; but on this journey I took some 
flour which had been left in the wagon, with some got on 
the island, and baked my own bread all the way in an ex- 
temporaneous oven made by an inverted pot. With these 
precautions, aided, no doubt, by the greater healthiness 
of the district over which we passed, I enjoyed perfect 
health. 

When we left the Chipongo on the 30th, we passed among 
the range of hills on our left, which are composed of mica 
and clay slate. At the bottom we found a forest of large 
silicified trees, all lying as if the elevation of the range had 
made them fall away from it and toward the river. The 
numbers of large game were quite astonishing. I never 
saw elephants so tame as those near the Chiponga : they 
stood close to our path without being the least afraid. 
This is different from their conduct where they have been 
accustomed to guns, for there they take alarm at the dis- 
tance of a mile, and begin to run if a shot is fired even at 



CHARGE OF AN ELEPHANT. 3Q2 

a longer distance. My men killed another here, and re- 
warded the villagers of the Chiponga for their liberaht}^ in 
meal by loading them with flesh. We spent a night at a 
baobab, which was hollow and would hold twenty men 
inside. It had been used as a lodging-house by the Babisa. 
As we approached nearer the Zambesi, the country became 
covered with broad-leaved bushes, pretty thickly planted, 
and we had several times to shout to elephants to get out 
of our way. At an open space, a herd of buffaloes came 
trotting up to look at our oxen ; and it was only by shooting 
one that I made them retreat. The meat is very much like 
that of an ox, and this one was very fine. The only danger 
we actually encountered was from a female elephant, with 
three young ones of different sizes. Charging through the 
centre of our extended line, and causing the men to throw 
down their burdens in a great hurry, she received a spear 
for her temerity. I never saw an elephant with more 
than one calf before. We knew that we were near our 
Zambesi again, even before the great river burst upon our 
sight, by the numbers of waterfowl we met. I killed 
four geese with two shots, and, had I followed the wishes 
of my men, could have secured a meal of waterfowl for 
the whole party. I never saw a river with so much animal 
life around and in it, and, as the Barotse say, " Its fish and 
fowl are always fat." When our eyes were gladdened by a 
view of its goodly broad waters, we found it very much 
larger than it is even above the falls. One might try to 
make his voice heard across it in vain. Its flow was more 
rapid than near Sesheke, being often four and a half miles 
an hour; and, what I never saw before, the water was dis- 
colored and of a deep brownish red. In the great valley 
the Leeambye never becomes of this color. The adjacent 
country, so far north as is known, is all level, and the soil, 
being generally covered with dense herbage, is not abraded; 
but on the eastern ridge the case is different : the grass is 
short, and, the elevation being great, the soil is washed 
down by the streams, and hence the discoloration which 

31 



3(52 THE ZAMBESI — ISLAND OP MENYE. 

we now view. The same thing was observed on the western 
ridge. We never saw discoloration till we reached the 
Quango : that obtained its matter from the western slope 
of the western ridge, just as this part of the Zambesi 
receives its soil from the eastern slope of the eastern ridge. 
It carried a considerable quantity of wreck of reeds, sticks, 
and trees. We struck upon the river about eight miles east 
of the confluence with the Kafue, and thereby missed a 
sight of that interesting point. The cloudiness of the 
weather was such that but few observations could be made 
for determining our position ; so, pursuing our course, we 
went down the left bank, and came opposite the island of 
Menye makaba. The Zambesi contains numerous islands : 
this was about a mile and a half or two miles long and up- 
ward of a quarter of a mile broad. Besides human popu- 
lation, it has a herd of buffaloes that never leave it. In 
the distance they seemed to be upward of sixty. The 
human and brute inhabitants understand each other; for 
when the former think they ought to avenge the liberties 
committed on their gardens, the leaders of the latter come 
out boldly to give battle. They told us that the only time 
in which they can thin them is when the river is full and 
part of the island flooded. They then attack them from 
their canoes. The comparatively small space to which 
they have confined themselves shows how luxuriant the 
vegetation of this region is ; for were they in want of more 
pasture, as buffaloes can swim well, and the distance from 
this bank to the island is not much more than 200 yards, 
they might easily remove hither. The opposite bank is 
much more distant. 

Eanges of hills appear now to run parallel with the 
Zambesi, and are about fifteen miles apart. Those on the 
north approach nearest to the river. The inhabitants on 
that side are the Batonga, those on the south bank are 
the Banyai. The hills abound in buffaloes, and elephants 
are numerous; and many are killed by the people on 
both banks. They erect stages on high trees overhang. 



DEVICES FOR KILLING GAME. 353 

ing the paths by which the elephants come, and then use 
a large spear with a handle nearly as thick as a man's 
wrist, and four or five feet long. When the animal 
comes beneath they throw the spear, and if it enters be- 
tween the ribs above, as the blade is at least twenty inches 
long by two broad, the motion of the handle, as it is aided 
by knocking against the trees, makes frightful gashes 
within and soon causes death. They kill them also by 
means of a spear inserted in a beam of wood, which being 
suspended on a branch of a tree by a cord attached to a 
latch fastened in the path and intended to be struck by 
the animal's foot, leads to the fall of the beam, and, the 
spear being poisoned, causes death in a few hours. 

We were detained by continuous rains several days at 
this island. The clouds rested upon the tops of the hills as 
they came from the eastward, and then poured down plen- 
teous showers on the valleys below. As soon as we could 
move, Tomba Nyama, the head-man of the island, volun- 
teered the loan of a canoe to cross a small river, called 
the Chongwe, which we found to be about fifty or sixty 
yards broad and flooded. All this part of the country was 
well known to Sekwebu; and he informed us that, when 
he passed through it as a boy, the inhabitants possessed 
abundance of cattle and there were no tsetse. The exist- 
ence of the insect now shows that it may return in com- 
pany with the larger game. The vegetation along the 
bank was exceedingly rank, and the bushes so tangled that 
it was difficult to get on. The paths had been made by the 
wild animals alone, for the general pathway of the people 
is the river, in their canoes. We usually followed the foot- 
paths of the game; and of these there was no lack. Buf- 
faloes, zebras, pallahs, and waterbucks abound ; and there 
is also a great abundance of wild pigs, koodoos, and the 
black antelope. We got one buff'alo as he was rolling him- 
self in a pool of mud. He had a large piece of skin torn 
out of his flank, it was believed, by an alligator. 

We were struck by the fact that, as soon as we came 



364 AN ALBINO MURDERED BY HIS MOTHER. 

between the ranges of hills which flank the Zambesi, the 
rains felt warm. At sunrise the thermometer stood at from 
82° to 8G°3 at mid-day in the coolest shade, namely, in my 
little tent under a shady tree, at 96° to 98° ; and at sunset 
it is 86°. This is diff'erent from any thing we experienced 
in the interior; for these rains always bring down the mer- 
cury to 72° or even 68°. There, too, we found a small, 
black coleopterous insect, which stung like the mosquito 
but injected less poison : it puts us in mind of that insect, 
which does not exist in the high lands we had left. 

January 6, 1856. — Each village we passed furnished us 
with a couple of men to take us on to the next. They 
were useful in showing us the parts least covered with 
jungle. When we came near a village, we saw men, 
women, and children employed in weeding their gardens, 
they being great agriculturists. Most of the men are 
muscular, and have large ploughman-hands. Their color 
is the same admixture — from very dark to light olive — 
that we saw in Londa. Though all have thick lips and 
flat noses, o\\\y the more degraded of the population pos- 
sess the ugly negro physiognomy. They mark themselves 
by a line of little raised cicatrices, each of which is a quar- 
ter of an inch long : they extend from the tip of the nose 
to the root of the hair on the forehead. It is remarkable 
that I never met with an albino in crossing Africa, 
though, from accounts published by the Portuguese, I was 
led to expect that they were held in favor as doctors by 
certain chiefs. I saw several in the south : one at Kuru- 
man is a full-grown woman, and a man having this pecu- 
liarity of skin was met with in the colony. Their bodies 
are always blistered on exposure to the sun, as the skin 
is more tender than that of the blacks. The Kuruman 
woman lived some time at Kolobcng, and generally had on 
her bosom and shoulders the remains of large blisters. 
She was most anxious to be made black; but nitrate of 
silver, taken internally, did not produce jits usual eff'ect. 
During the time I resided at Mabotsa, a woman camo -c 



" TLOLO." 365 

the station with a fine boy, an albino. The father had 
ordered her to throw him away; but she clung to hei 
offspring for many years. He was remarkably intelligent 
for his age. The pupil of the eye was of a pink color, and 
the eye itself was unsteady in vision. The hair, or rathei 
wool, was yellow, and the features were those common 
among the Bechuanas. After I left the place, the mother 
is said to have become tired of living apart from the father, 
who refused to have her while she retained the son. She 
took him out one day and killed him close to the village of 
Mabotsa, and nothing was done to her by the authorities. 
From having met with no albinos in Londa, I suspect they 
are there also put to death. We saw one dwarf only in 
Londa, and brands on him showed he had once been a 
slave ; and there is one dwarf woman at Linyanti. The 
general absence of deformed persons is partly owing to 
their destruction in infancy, and partly to the mode of life 
being a natural one so far as ventilation and food are con- 
cerned. They use but few unwholesome mixtures as con- 
diments, and, though their undress exposes them to the 
vicissitudes of the temperature, it does not harbor vomites. 
It was observed that, when smallpox and measles visited 
the country, they were most severe on the half-castes who 
were clothed. In several tribes, a child which is said to 
"tlola" (transgress) is put to death. "Tlolo," or trans- 
gression, is ascribed to several curious cases. A child who 
cut the upper front teeth before the under was always put 
to death among the Bakaa, and, I believe, also among the 
Bakwains. In some tribes, a case of twins renders one of 
them liable to death; and an ox which, while lying in the 
Den, beats the ground with its tail, is treated in the same 
way. It is thought to be calling death to visit the tribe. 
When I was coming through Londa, my men carried a 
great number of fowls, of a larger breed than any they 
had at home. If one crowed before midnight, it had been 
guilty of "tlolo," and was killed. The men often carried 
them sitting on their guns, and, if one began to crow in a 



366 II>EA OF FEMALE BEAUTY. 

forest, the owner would give it a beating, by way of teach- 
ing it not to be guilty of crowing at unseasonable hours. 

The women here are in the habit of piercing the upper 
lip and gradually enlarging the orifice until they can insert 
a shell. The lip then appears drawn out beyond the per- 
pendicular of the nose, and gives them a most ungainly 
aspect. Sekwebu remarked, " These women want to make 
their mouths like those of ducks;" and, indeed, it does 
appear as if they had the idea that female beauty of lip 
had been attained by the Ornithorhynchus 'paradoxus alone. 
This custom prevails throughout the country of the Maravi, 
and no one could see it without confessing that fashion had 
never led women to a freak more mad. We had rains now 
every day, and considerable cloudiness ; but the sun often 
burst through with scorching intensity. All call out against 
it then, saying, " Oh, the sun •! that is rain again." It is 
worth noticing that my companions never complained of 
the heat while on the highlands ; but when we descended 
into the lowlands of Angola, and here also, they began to 
fret on account of it. I myself felt an oppressive steami- 
ness in the atmosphere which I had not experienced on 
the higher lands. 

As the game was abundant and my party very large, I 
had still to supply their wants with the gun. We slaugh- 
tered the oxen only when unsuccessful in hunting. We 
always entered into friendly relations with the head-men 
of the different villages, and they presented grain and other 
food freely. One man gave a basinful of rice, — the first 
we met with in the country. It is never seen in the in- 
terior. He said he knew it was " white man's corn,'' and, 
when I wished to buy some more, he asked me to give him 
a slave. This was the first symptom of the slave-trade on 
this side of the country. The last of these friendly head 
men was named Mobala ) and, having passed him in peace, 
we had no anticipation of any thing else ; but after a few 
hours we reached Selole or Chilole, and fo^md that he not 
only considered us enemies, but had actually sent an ex- 



selole's hostility. 307 

press t© raise the tribe of Mburiima against us. All the 
women i f Selole had fled, and the few people we met ex- 
hibited I igns of terror. An armed party had come from 
Mburiim I in obedience to the call ; but the head-man of 
tlie com) any, being Mburuma's brother, suspecting that it 
was ahoi.x, came to our encampment and told us the whole. 
When wt explained our objects, he told us that Mburuma, he 
had no dv)ubt, would receive us well. The reason why Se- 
lole acted in this foolish manner we afterward found to be 
this: an Italian named Simoens, and nicknamed Siriatomba, 
(don't eat tobacco,) had married the daughter of a chief 
called Sekokole, living north of Tete. He armed a party 
of fifty slaves with guns, and, ascending the river in canoes 
some distance beyond the island Meya makaba, attacked 
several inhabited islands beyond, securing a large number 
of prisoners and much ivory. On his return, the different 
chiefs — at the instigation of his father-in-law, who also did 
not wish him to set up as chief — united, attacked and dis- 
persed the party of Simoens, and killed him while trying 
to escape on foot. Selole imagined that I was another 
Italian, or, as he expressed it, " Siriatomba risen from the 
dead." In his message to Mburuma he even said that 
Mobala, and all the villages beyond, were utterly destroyed 
by our fire-arms; but the sight of Mobala himself, who had 
come to the village of Selole, led the brother of Mburuma 
to see at once that it was all a hoax. But for this the 
foolish fellow Selole might have given us trouble. 

We saw many of the liberated captives of this Italian 
among the villages here, and Sekwebu found them to be 
Matebele. The brother of Mburuma had a gun, which was 
the first we had seen in coming eastward. Before wo 
reached Mburuma, my men went to attack a troop of ele- 
phants, as they were much in need of meat. When the 
troop began to run, one of them fell into a hole, and before 
he could extricate himself an opportunity was afforded for 
all the men to throw their spears. When he rose he was 
like a huge porcupine, for each of the seventy or eighty mea 



368 ELEPHANTS* TENACITY OF LIFE. 

had discharged more than one spear at him. As they had no 
more, they sent for me to finish him. In order to put him 
at once out of pain, I went to within twenty yards, there 
being a bank between us which he could not readily climb. 
I rested the gun upon an ant-hill, so as to take a steady 
aim; but, though I fired twelve two-ounce bullets (all I 
had) into diff'erent parts, I could not kill him. As it was 
becoming dark, I advised my men to let him stand, being 
&ure of finding him dead in the morning ; but, though we 
searched all the next day, and went more than ten miles, 
we never saw him again. I mention this to young men 
who may think that they will be able to hunt elephants 
on foot by adopting the Ceylon practice of killing them 
by one ball in the brain. I believe that in Africa the 
practice of standing before an elephant, expecting to kill 
him with one shot, would be certain death to the hunter ; 
and I would add for the information of those who may 
think that, because I met with a great abundance of game 
here, they also might find rare sport, that the tsetse exists 
all along both banks of the Zambesi, and there can be no 
hunting by means of horses. Hunting on foot in this climate 
is such excessively hard work that I feel certain the keenest 
sportsman would very soon turn away from it in disgust. 
I myself was rather glad, when furnished with the excuse 
that I had no longer any balls, to hand over all the hunting 
to my men, who had no more love for the sport than myself, 
as they never engaged in it except when forced by hunger. 
Some of them gave me a hint to melt down my plate by 
asking if it were not lead. I had two pewter plates and a 
piece of zinc, which I now melted into bullets. I also spent 
the remainder of my handkerchiefs in buying spears for 
them. My men frequently surrounded herds of bufi'aloes 
and killed numbers of the calves. I, too, exerted myself 
greatly; but, as I am now obliged to shoot with the left 
arm, I am a bad shot, and this, with the lightness of tho 
bullets, made me very unsuccessful. The more the hunger, 
the less my success, invariably. 



MR. OSWELL's narrow ESCAPE. 369 

I may here add an adventure with an elephant of one 
who has had more narrow escapes than any man living, 
but whose modesty has always preTented him from publish- 
ing any thing about himself. When we were on the banks of 
the Zouga in 1850, Mr. Oswell pursued one of these animals 
into the dense, thick, thorny bushes met with on the margin 
of that river, and to which the elephant usually flees for 
safety. He followed through a narrow pathway by lifting 
up some of the branches and forcing his way through the 
rest; but, when he had just got over this difficulty, he saw 
the elephant, whose tail he had but got glimpses of before, 
now rushing toward him. There was then no time to lift up 
branches; so he tried to force the horse through them. He 
could not effect a passage; and, as there was but an instant 
between the attempt and failure, the hunter tried to dis- 
mount, but in doing this one foot was caught by a branch, 
and the spur drawn along the animal's flank; this made 
him spring away and throw the rider on the ground with 
his face to the elephant, which, being in full chase, still 
went on. Mr. Oswell saw the huge fore-foot about to de- 
scend on his legs, parted them, and drew in his breath as 
if to resist the pressure of the other foot, which he expected 
would next descend on his body. He saw the whole 
length of the under part of the enormous brute pass over 
him : the horse got away safely. I have heard of but one 
other authentic instance in which an elephant went over a 
man without injury, and, for any one who knows the nature 
of the bush in which this occurred, the very thought of an 
encounter in it with such a foe is appalling. As the thorns 
are placed in pairs on opposite sides of the branches, and 
these turn round on being pressed against, one pair brings 
the other exactly into the position in which it must pierce 
the intruder. They cut like knives. Horses dread this 
bush extremely; indeed, most of them refuse to face its 
thorns. 

On reaching Mburuma's village, his brother came to 

meet us. We explained the reason of our delay, and he 
Y 



870 mburuma's village and people. 

told us that we were looked upon with alarm. He said 
that Siriatomba had been killed near the village of Selole, 
and hence that man's fears. He added that the Italian had 
come talking of peace, as we did, but had kidnapped chil- 
dren and bought ivory with them, and that we were sup- 
posed to be following the same calling. I pointed to my 
men, and asked if any of these were slaves, and if we had 
any children among them, and I think we satisfied him that 
we were true men. Eeferring to our ill success in hunting 
the day before, he said, "The man at whose village you 
remained was in fault in allowing you to want meat, for he 
had only to run across to Mburuma; he would have give a 
him a little meal, and, having sprinkled that on the ground 
as an offering to the gods, you would have found your 
elephant." The chiefs in these parts take upon themsehes 
an office somewhat like the priesthood, and the peo}ile 
imagine that they can propitiate the Deity through them. 
In illustration of their ideas, it may be mentioned that, 
when we were among the tribes west of Semalembiie, 
several of the people came forward and introduced them- 
selves, — one as a hunter of elephants, another as a hunter 
of hippopotami, a third as a digger of pitfalls, — apparently 
wishing me to give them medicine for success in their 
avocations, as well as to cure the diseases of those to 
whom I was administering the drugs. I thought they at- 
tributed supernatural power to them, for, like all Africans, 
they have unbounded faith in the efficacy of charms^ 
but I took pains to let them know that they must pray 
and trust to another power than mine for aid. We nevei 
saw Mburuma himself, and the conduct of his people indi 
cated very strong suspicions, though he gave us presents 
of meal, maize, and native corn. His people never camo 
near us except in large bodies and fully armed. We had 
to order them to place their bows, arrows, and spears at 
a distance before entering our encampment. We did not, 
however, care much for a little trouble now, as we hoped 
that, if we could pass this time without much molestation 



SUSPICIONS OF THE NATIVES. 371 

we might yet be able to return with ease, and without 
meeting sour, suspicious looks. 

Mburuma sent two men as guides to the Loangwa. These 
men tried to bring us to a stand, at a distance of about six 
miles from the village, by the notice, '' Mburuma says you 
are to sleep under that tree." On declining to do this, we 
were told that we must wait at a certain village for a sup- 
ply of corn. As none appeared in an hour, I proceeded on 
the march. It is not quite certain that their intentions 
were hostile; but this seemed to disarrange their plans, and 
one of them was soon observed running back to Mburuma. 
They had first of all tried to separate our party by volun- 
teering the loan of a canoe to convey Sekwebu and me, 
together with our luggage, by way of the river, and, as it 
was pressed upon us, I thought that this was their design. 
The next attempt was to detain us in the pass ; but, be- 
traying no suspicion, we civilly declined to place ourselves 
in their power in an unfavorable position. We afterward 
heard that a party of Babisa traders, who came from the 
northeast, bringing English goods from Mozambique, had 
been plundered by this same people. 

At the village of Ma Mburuma, (mother of Mburuma,) the 
guides, who had again joined us, gave a favorable report, 
and the women and children did not flee. Ma Mburuma 
promised us canoes to cross the Loangwa in our front. It 
was pleasant to see great numbers of men, women, and 
boys come, without suspicion, to look at the books, watch, 
looking-glass, revolver, &c. They are a strong, muscular 
race, and both men and women are seen cultivating the 
ground. 

We were obliged to hurry along, for the oxen were bitten 
daily by the tsetse, which, as I have before remarked, now 
inhabits extensive tracts which once supported herds of 
cattle that were swept off by Mpakane and other marau- 
ders, whose devastations were well known to Sekwebu, for 
he himself had been an actor in the scenes. When he told 
me of them he always lowered his voice, in order that tho 



Ji72 HOSTILE APPEARANCES. 

guides might not hear that he had been one of their ene« 
mies. But that we were looked upon with suspicion, on 
account of having come in the footsteps of invaders, was 
evident from our guides remarking to men in the gardens 
through which we passed, '^ They have words of peace — 
all very fine ; but lies only, as the Bazunga are great liars/' 
They thought we did not understand them ; but Sekwebu 
knew every word perfectly; and, without paying any 
ostensible attention to these complimentary remarks, we 
always took care to explain ever afterward that we were 
not Bazunga, but Makoa, (English.) 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE DESCENDS THE ZAMBESI TO CHICOVA. 

lith. — We reached the confluence of the Loangwa and 
the Zambesi, most thankful to God for his great mercies in 
helping us thus far. Mburuma's people had behaved so 
suspiciously, that, though we had guides from him, we 
were by no means sure that we should not be attacked 
in crossing the Loangwa. We saw them here collecting 
in large numbers, and, though professing friendship, they 
kept at a distance from our camp. They refused to lend 
us more canoes than two, though they have many. They 
have no intercourse with Europeans except through the 
Babisa. They tell us that this was formerly the residence 
of the Bazunga, and maintain silence as to the cause of 
their leaving it. I walked about some ruins I discovered, 
built of stone, and found the remains of a church, and on 
one side lay a broken bell, with the letters I. H. S. and a 
cross, but no date. There were no inscriptions on stone, 
and the people could not tell what the Bazunga called 
their place. We found afterward it was Zumbo. 



CROSSING THE LOANGWA. 373 

I felt some turmoil of spirit in the evening at the pros- 
pect of having all my efforts for the welfare of this great 
region and its teeming population knocked on the head by 
savages to-morrow, who might be said to " know not what 
they do/^ It seemed such a pity that the important fact 
of the existence of the two healthy ridges which I had dis- 
covered should not become known in Christendom, for a 
confirmation would thereby have been given to the idea 
that Africa is not open to the gospel. But I read that 
Jesus said, ^^All power is given unto me in heaven and on 
earth: go ye, therefore, and teach all nations; . . . and lo, 
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the tvorld." I took 
this as His word of honor, and went out to take observa- 
tions for latitude and longitude, which, I think, were very 
successful. (The church: lat. 15° 37' 22" S., long. 30° 
82' E.) 

l^th. — The natives of the surrounding countr}'- collected 
around us this morning, all armed. The women and chil- 
dren were sent away, and one of Mburuma's wives, who 
lives in the vicinity, was not allowed to approach, though 
she had come from her village to pay me a visit. Only one 
canoe was lent to us, though we saw two others tied to the 
bank. The part we crossed was about a mile from the 
confluence, and, as it was now flooded, it seemea upward 
of half a mile in breadth. We passed all our goods first on 
to an island in the middle, then the remaining cattle and 
men ; occupying the post of honor, I, as usual, was the 
last to enter the canoe. A number of the inhabitants 
stood armed all the time we were embarking. I showed 
them my watch, lens, and other things to keep them 
amused, until there only remained those who were to enter 
the canoe with me. I thanked them for their kindness, 
and wished them peace. After all, they may have been 
influenced only by the intention to be ready in case I 
should play them some falsa trick, for they have reason to 
be distrustful of the whites. The guides came over to bid 
as adieu, and we sat under a mango-tree fifteen feet in cir' 

32 



374 SITUATION OF ZUMBO. 

cumforcnco. We found them more communicative now 
They said that the land on both sides belonged to the 
Bazunga, and that they had left of old, on the approach of 
Changamera, Ngaba, and Mpakane. Sekwebu was with 
the last-named, but he maintained that they never came to 
the confluence, though they carried off all the cattle of 
Mburuma. The guides confirmed this by saying that the 
Bazunga were not attacked, but fled in alarm on the 
approach of the enemy. This mango-tree he knew by its 
proper name, and we found seven others and sevei'al tama- 
rinds, and were informed that the chief Mburuma sends 
men annually to gathei the fruit, but, like many Africans 
whom I have known, nas not had patience to propagate 
more trees. I gave them some little presents for them- 
selves, a handkerchief and a few beads; and they were 
highly pleased w^ith a cloth of red baize for Mburuma, 
which Sekeletu had given me to purchase a canoe. We 
were thankful to part good friends. 

The situation of Zumbo was admirably well chosen as a 
site for commerce. Looking backward, we see a mass of 
high, dark mountains covered with trees ; behind us rises 
the fine high hill Mazanzwe, which stretches away north- 
w^ard along the left bank of the Loangwa ; to the S.E. lies 
an open country, with a small round hill in the distance 
called Tofulo The merchants, as they sat beneath the 
verandahs in front of their houses, had a magnificent view 
of the two rivers at their confluence, of their church at 
the angle, and of all the gardens which they had on both 
sides of the rivers. In these they cultivated wheat with- 
out irrigation, and, as the Portuguese assert, of a grain 
twice the size of that at Tete. From the guides we learned 
that the inhabitants had not imbibed much idea of Chris- 
tianity, for they used the same term for the church-bell 
which they did for a diviner's drum. From this point the 
merchants had water-communication in three directions 
beyond, namely, from the Loangwa to the N.N.W., by the 
Kafue to the W., ard by the Zambesi to the S W. Their 



lacerda's visit to cazembe. 375 

attention, however, was chiefly attracted to the N., or 
Londa; and the principal articles of trade were ivoiy 
and slaves. Private enterprise was always restrained, for, 
-the colonies of the Portuguese being strictly military, and 
the pay of the commandants being very small, the officers 
have always been obliged to engage in trade; and had they 
not employed their power to draw the trade to themselves 
by preventing private traders from making bargains be- 
yond the villages, and only at regulated prices, they would 
have had no trade, as they themselves were obliged to 
remain always at their posts. 

Several expeditions went to the north as far as to Ca- 
zembe, and Dr. Lacerda, himself commandant of Tete, 
went to that chief's residence. Unfortunately, he was cut 
off while there, and his papers, taken possession of by a 
Jesuit who accompanied him, were lost to the world. This 
Jesuit probably intended to act fairly and have them pub- 
lished; but soon after his return he was called away by 
death himself, and the papers were lost sight of Dr. La- 
cerda had a strong desire to open up communication with 
Angola, which would have been of importance then, as 
affording a speedier mode of communication with Portugal 
than by the way of the Cape ; but since the opening of the 
overland passage to India a quicker transit is effected from 
Eastern Africa to Lisbon by way of the Eed Sea. Besides 
Lacerda, Cazembe was visited by Pereira, who gave a 
glowing account of that chiefs power, which none of my 
inquiries have confirmed. The people of Matiamvo stated 
to me that Cazembe was a vassal of their chief; and, from 
all the native visitors whom I have seen, he appears to be 
exactly like Shinte and Katcma, only a little more power- 
ful. The term "Emperor," which has been applied to him, 
seems totally inappropriate. The statement of Pereira 
that twenty negroes were slaughtered in a day was not 
confirmed by any one else, though numbers may have been 
killed on some particular occasion during the time of his 
visit, for we find throughout all the country north of 20% 



376 A MAN TOSSED BY A BUFFALO. 

which I consider to be real negro, the custom of slaughter- 
ing victims to accompany the departed soul of a chief; and 
human sacrifices are occasionally offered, and certain parts 
of tne bodies are used as charms. It is on account of the 
existence of such rites, with the similarity of the language, 
and the fact that the names of rivers are repeated again 
and again from north to south through all that region, that 
I consider them to have been originally one family. The 
last expedition to Cazembe was somewhat of the same 
nature as the others, and failed in establishing a commerce 
because the people of Cazembe, who had come to Tete to 
invite the Portuguese to visit them, had not been allowed 
to trade with whom they might. As it had not been free 
trade there, Cazembe did not see why it should be free 
trade at his town : he accordingly would not allow his 
people to furnish the party with food except at his price; 
and the expedition, being half starved in consequence, 
came away voting unanimously that Cazembe was a great 
bore. 

When we left the Loangwa, we thought we had got rid of 
the hills; but there are some behind Mazanzwe, though five 
or six miles off from the river. Tsetse and the hills had de- 
stroyed two riding-oxen, and, when the little one that I now 
rode knocked up, I was forced to march on foot. The bush 
being very dense and high, we were going along among the 
trees, when three buffaloes, which we had unconsciously 
passed above the wind, thought that they were surrounded 
by men, and dashed through our line. My ox set off at a 
gallop, and when I could manage to glance back I saw one 
of the men up in the air about five feet above a buffalo, 
which was tearing along with a stream of blood running 
down his flank. When I got back to the poor fellow, I 
found that he had lighted on his face, and, though he had 
been carried on the horns of the buffalo about twenty yards 
before getting the final toss, the skin was not pierced, nor 
was a bone broken. When the beasts appeared, he had 
thrown down his load and stabbed one in the side, li 




32* 



CAFFRE WAR. 379 

turned suddenly upon him, and, before he could use a tree 
for defence, carried him off. We shampooed him well, and 
then went on, and in about a week he was able to engage 
in the hunt again. 

On the morning of the 17th we were pleased to see a 
person coming from the island of Shibanga with jacket and 
hat on. He was quite black, but had come from the Portu- 
guese settlement at Tete or Nyungwe ; and now, for the 
first time, we understood that the Portuguese settlement 
was on the other bank of the river, and that they had been 
fighting with the natives for the last two years. We had 
thus got into the midst of a Cafire war, without any par- 
ticular wish to be on either side. He advised us to cross 
the river at once, as Mpende lived on this side. We had 
been warned by the guides of Mburuma against him, for 
they said that if we could get past Mpende we might reach 
the white men, but that he was determined that no white 
man should pass him. Wishing to follow this man's advice, 
we proposed to borrow his canoes; but, being afraid to 
offend the lords of the river, he declined. The consequence 
was, we were obliged to remain on the enemy's side. The 
next island belonged to a man named Zungo, a fine, frank 
fellow, who brought us at once a present of corn, bound in 
a peculiar way in grass. He freely accepted our apology 
for having no present to give in return, as he knew 
that there were no goods in the interior, and, besides, 
sent forward a recommendation to his brother-in-law 
Pangola. 

ISth. — ^Pangola visited us and presented us with food. 
In few other countries would one hundred and fourteen 
sturdy vagabonds be supported by the generosity of the 
head-men and villagers and whatever they gave be i)ro- 
sented with politeness. My men got pretty well supplied 
individually, for they went into the villages and com- 
menced dancing. The young women were especially 
pleased with the new steps they had to show, though I 
suspect many of them were invented for the occasion, and 



880 APPROACHING MPENDE's VILLAGE. 

would say, " Dance for me, and I will grind com for you." 
At every fresh instance of liberality, Sekwebu said, " Did 
not I tell you that these people had hearts, while we were 
still at Linyanti V All agreed that the character he had 
given was true, and some remarked, " Look ! although we 
have been so long away from home, not one of us has 
become lean.'' It was a fact that we had been all well 
supplied either with meat by my gun or their own spears, 
or food from the great generosity of the inhabitants. 
Pangola promised to ferry us across the Zambesi, but 
failed to fulfil his promise. He seemed to wish to avoid 
offending his neighbor Mpende by aiding us to escape from 
his hands ; so we proceeded along the bank. Although we 
were in doubt as to our reception by Mpende, I could not 
help admiring the beautiful country as we passed along. 
Finding no one willing to aid us in crossing the river, we 
proceeded to the village of the chief Mpende. When we 
came to Mpende's village, he immediately sent to inquire 
who we were, and then ordered the guides who had come 
with us from the last village to go back and call their 
masters. He sent no message to us whatever. "We had 
travelled very slowly up to this point, the tsetse-stricken 
oxen being now unable to go two miles an hour. We 
were also delayed by being obliged to stop at every village 
and send notice of our approach to the head-man, who 
came and received a little information and gave some food. 
If we had passed on without taking any notice of them, 
they would have considered it impolite, and we should 
have appeared more as enemies than friends. I consoled 
myself for the loss of time by the thought that these con- 
versations tended to the opening of our future path. 

2M. — This morning, at sunrise, a party of Mpende's 
people came close to our encampment, uttering strange cries 
and waving some bright-red substance toward us. They 
then lighted a fire with charms in it, and departed, utter 
ing the same hideous screams as before. This was intended 
to render us powerless, and probably also to frighten us 



A FIGHT ANTICIPATED. 381 

Ever since dawn, parties of armed men have been seen 
collecting from all quarters, and numbers pa-ssed us while 
it was yet dark. Had we moved down the river at once, 
it would have been considered an indication of fear or 
defiance, and so would a retreat. I therefore resolved to 
wait, trusting to Him who has the hearts of all men in 
his hands. They evidently intended to attack us, for no 
friendly message was sent; and, when three of the Batoka 
the night before entered the village to beg food, a man 
went round about each of them, making a noise like a lion. 
The villagers then called upon them to do homage, and, 
when they complied, the chief ordered some chaif to be 
given them, as if it had been food. Othei things also 
showed unmistakable hostility. As we were now pretty 
certain of a skirmish, I ordered an ox to be slaughtered, 
as this is a means which Sebituane employed for inspiring 
courage. I have no doubt that we should have been vic- 
torious : indeed, my men, who were far better acquainted 
with fighting than any of the people on the Zambesi, were 
rejoicing in the prospect of securing captives to carry the 
tusks for them. " We shall now," said they, "■ get both 
corn and clothes in plenty.'' They were in a sad state, 
poor fellows j for the rains we had encountered had mad^ 
their skin-clothing drop off piecemeal, and they were 
looked upon with disgust by the well-fed and well-clothed 
Zambesians. They were, however, veterans in maraud 
ing; and the head-men, instead of being depressed by fear, 
as the people of Mpende intended should be the case in 
using their charms, hinted broadly to me that I ought to 
allow them to keep Mpende's wives. The roasting of meat 
went on fast and furious, and some of the young men said 
to me, "You have seen us with elephants, but you don't 
know yet what we can do with men.'' I believe that, 
had Mpende struck the first blow, he would soon have 
found out that he never made a greater mistake in his 
Jtife. 

His whole tribe was assembled at about the distance of 



382 MPENDE's FRIENDSniP, 

half a milo As the country is covered with trees, we did 
not see them ; but every now and then a few came about 
us as epics, and would answer no questions. I handed a 
leg of the ox to two of these, and desired them to take it 
to Mpendo. After waiting a considerable time in suspense, 
two old men made their appearance and said they had 
come to inquire who I was. I replied, '' I am a Lekoa," 
(an Englishman.) They said, " We don't know that tribe. 
We suppose you are a Mozunga, the tribe with which we 
have been fighting.*' As I was not yet aware that the 
term Mozunga was applied to a Portuguese, and thought 
they meant half-castes, I showed them my hair and tho 
skin of my bosom, and asked if the Bazunga had hair and 
skin like mine. As the Portuguese have the custom of 
cutting the hair close, and are also somewhat darker than 
we are, they answered, '* No ; we never saw skin so white 
as that," and added, <*Ah! you must be one of that tribe 
that loves [literally, has heart to'] the black men." I, of 
course, gladly responded in the affirmative. They re- 
turned to tho village, and we afterward heard that there 
had been a long discussion between Mpende and his coun- 
cillors, and that one of the men with whom we had re- 
mained to talk the day before had been our advocate. He 
was named Sindcse Galea. When wo were passing his 
village, after some conversation, he said to his people, " Is 
that the man whom they wish to stop after he has passed 
80 many tribes ? What can Mpende say to refusing him a 
passage V It was owing to this man, and tho fact that I 
belonged to the " friendly white tribe," that Mpcnae was 
persuaded to allow us to pass. When we knew the favor- 
able decision of the council, I sent Sekwebu to speak about 
the purchase of a canoe, as one of my men had become 
very ill, and I wished to relieve his companions by taking 
him in a canoe. Before Sekwebu could finish his story, 
Mj)onde remarked, "That white man is truly one of our 
friends. See how he lets me know his afflictions !" Sek- 
webu adroitly took advantage of this turn in the conversa 



CROSSING THE ZAMBESI. 383 

tion, and said, "Ah ! if you only knew him as well as we 
do who have lived with him, you would understand that 
he highly values your friendship and that of Mburuma, 
and, as he is a stranger, he trusts in you to direct him," 
He replied, *<Well, he ought to cross to the other side 
of the river, for this bank is hilly and rough, and the way 
to Tete is longer on this than on the opposite bank." 
"But who will take us across if you do not ?" "Truly," 
replied Mpende, " I only wish you had come sooner to tell 
me about him ; but you shall cross " Mpende said fre- 
quently he was sorry he had not known me sooner, but 
that he had been prevented by his enchanter from coming 
near me; and he lamented that the same person had kept 
him from eating the meat which I had presented. He did 
every thing he could afterward to aid us on our course, 
and our departure was as different as possible from our 
approach to his village. I was very much pleased to find 
the English name spoken of with such great respect so 
far from the coast, and most thankful that no collision 
occurred to damage its influence. 

24cth. — Mpende sent two of his principal men to order the 
people of a large island below to ferry us across. The river 
is very broad, and, though my men were well acquainted 
with the management of canoes, we could not all cross over 
before dark. It is 1200 yards from bank to bank, and be- 
tween 700 and 800 of deep water, flowing at the rate of 
3 J miles per hour. We landed first on an island, then, to 
prevent our friends playing false with us, hauled the 
canoes up to our bivouac and slept in them. The next 
morning we all reached the opposite bank in safety. 

29th. — I was most sincerely thankful to find myself on 
the south bank of the Zambesi; and, having nothing else. 1 
sent back one of my two spoons and a shirt as a thank- 
offering to Mpende. The different head-men along this 
river act very much in concert, and if one refuses passage 
they all do, uttering the sage remark, " If so-and-so did noi 
lend his canoes, he must have had some good reason." Tho 



884 boroma's village. 

next island we came to was that of a man named Mozinkwa. 
Here we were detained some days by continuous rains. 

We were detained here so long that my tent becamo 
again quite rotten. One of my men, after long sickness, 
which I did not understand, died here. He was one of the 
Batoka, and when unable to walk I had some difficulty in 
making his companions carry him. They wished to leave 
him to die when his case became hopeless. Another of 
them deserted to Mozinkwa. He said that his motive for 
doing so was that the Makololo had killed both his father 
and mother, and, as he had neither wife nor child, there 
was no reason why he should continue longer with them. 
I did not object to his statements, but said if he should 
change his mind he would be welcome to rejoin us, and 
intimated to Mozinkwa that he must not be sold as a slave. 

February 1. — "We met some native traders ; and, as many 
of my men were now in a state of nudity, I bought some 
American calico, marked ^'Lawrence Mills, Lowell," with 
two small tusks, and distributed it among the most needy. 
After leaving Mozinkwa's, we came to the Zingesi, a sand- 
rivulet in flood, (lat. 15° 38' 34" S., long. 31° V E.) It was 
sixty or seventy yards wide, and waist deep. Like all these 
sand-rivers, it is for the most part dry; but, by digging 
down a few feet, water is to be found, which is percolating 
along the bed on a stratum of clay. 

February 4. — We were much detained by rains, a heavy 
shower without wind falling every morning about daybreak : 
it often cleared up after that, admitting of our moving on a 
few miles. A continuous rain of several hours then set in. 

On the 6th we came to the village of Boroma, which is 
Bituated among a number of others, each surrounded by 
extensive patches of cultivation. On the opposite side of 
the river we have a great cluster of conical hills, called 
Chorichori. Boroma did not make his appearance, but sent 
a substitute, who acted civilly. I s^nt Sekwebu in the 
morning to state that we intended to move on : h^.s mother 
replied that, as she had expected that we should remain, no 



A GARRULOUS GUIDE. 885 

food was ready ; but she sent a basket of corn and a fowl. A r 
an excuse why Boroma did not present himself, she said 
that he was seized this morning by the Earimo, — which 
probably meant that his lordship was drunk. 

We marched along the river to a point opposite the hill 
Pinkwe, (lat. 15° 39' 11" S., long. 32° 5' E.;) but the late 
abundant rains now flooded the Zambesi again, and great 
quantities of wreck appeared upon the stream. 

This flood having filled the river, we found the numerous 
rivulets which flow into it filled also, and when going along 
the Zambesi we lost so mucn time in passing up each little 
stream till we could find a ford about waist deep, and then 
returning to the bank, that I resolved to leave the river 
altogether and strike away to the southeast. We accord- 
ingly struck off when opposite the hill Pinkwe, and came 
into a hard Mopane country. 

This Chicova is not a kingdom, as has been stated, but a 
level tract, a part of which is annually overflowed by the 
Zambesi, and is well adapted for the cultivation of corn. 
It is said to be below the northern end of the hill Bungwe. 
I was very much pleased in discovering a small specimen 
of such a precious mineral as coal. I saw no indication of 
silver; and, if it ever was worked by the natives, it is re- 
markable that they have entirely lost the knowledge of it, 
and cannot distinguish between silver and tin. Our path 
lay along the bed of the Nake for some distance, the banks 
being covered with impenetrable thickets. The villages 
are not numerous; but we went from one to the other, and 
were treated kindly. Here they call themselves Bambiri, 
though the general name of the whole nation is Banyai. 
One of our guides was an inveterate talker, always stop- 
ping and asking for pay, that he might go on with a merry 
heart. I thought that he led us in the most difficult paths 
in order to make us feel his value, for, after passing through 
one thicket after another, we always came into the bed 
of the Nake again ; and as that was full of coarse sand, and 
the water only ankle deep, and as h:)t as a foot-bath from 
Z 33 



880 NYAMPUNOO, THE RAIN-CIIARMEA. 

the powerful rays of the sun, we were all completely tired 
out. lie likewise gave us a bad character at every village 
we passed, calling to them that they were to allow him to 
lead us astray, as we were a bad set. Sekwebu knew 
every word he said, and, as he became intolerable, I dis- 
missed him, giving him six feet of calico I had bought from 
native traders, and telling him that his tongue was a 
nuisance. It is in general best, when a scolding is neces- 
sary, to give it in combination with a present, and then end 
it by good wishes. This fellow went off smiling; and my 
men remarked, " His tongue is cured now.'' 

loth. — The head-man of these parts is named Nyampungo. 
1 sent the last fragment of cloth we had, with a request 
that we should be furnished with a guide to the next chief. 
After a long conference with his council, the cloth was 
returned with a promise of compliance and a request for 
some beads only. This man is sujDposed to possess the 
charm for rain, and other tribes send to him to beg it. 
This shows that what we inferred before was correct, — that 
less rain falls in this country than in Londa. Nyampungo 
behaved in quite a gentlemanly manner, presented me 
with some rice, and told my people to go among all the 
villages and beg for themselves. An old man, father-in-law 
of the chief, told me that he had seen books before, but 
never knew w^hat they meant. They pray to departed 
chiefs and relatives, but the idea of praying to God seemed 
new, and they heard it wuth reverence. As this was an 
intelligent old man, I asked him about the silver; but he 
was as ignorant of it as the rest, and said, ^^ We never dug 
silver, but we have washed for gold in the sands of the 
1 ivers Mazoe and Luia, which unite in the Luenya." I 
think that this is quite conclusive on the question of no 
silver having been dug by the natives of this district. 
Nyampungo is afflicted with a kind of disease called Se 
sen da, which I imagine to be a species of leprosy common 
in this quarter, — though they are a cleanly people. They 
never had cattle. The chiefs father had always lived Id 



ELEniANT-nUNT. 387 

their present position, and, when I asked him why he did 
not possess these useful animals, he said, " Who would give 
us the medicine to enable us to keep them ?" I found out 
the reason afterward in the prevalence of tsetse; but of 
this he was ignorant, having supposed that he could not 
keep cattle because he had no medicine. 



CHAPTEE XXX. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES TETE. 

lith. — We left ISTyampungo this morning. The path 
wound up the Molinge, another sand-river which flows into 
the JSTake. When we got clear of the tangled jungle which 
covers the banks of these rivulets, we entered the Mopane 
country, where we could walk with comfort. When wo 
had gone on a few hours, my men espied an elephant, and 
were soon in full pursuit. They were in want of meat, 
having tasted nothing but grain for several days. The 
desire for animal food made them all eager to slay him, 
and, though an old bull, he was soon killed The people 
of Nyampungo had never seen such desperadoes before. 
One rushed up and hamstrung the beast, while still stand- 
ing, by a blow with an axe. Some Banyai elephant- 
hunters happened to be present when my men were fighting 
with him. One of them took out his snuff-box and poured 
out all its contents at the root of a tree, as an offering to 
the Barimo for success. As soon as the animal fell, the 
whole of my party engaged in a wild, savage dance round 
the body, which quite frightened the Banyai, and he who 
made the offering said to me, "I see you are travelling 
with people who don't know how to pra}^: I therefore 
offered the only thing I had in their behalf, and the ele- 
phant soon fell.'' One of Nyampungo's men, who remained 
with me, ran a little forward, w hen an opening in the trees 



888 GAME-LAWS — HYENAS. 

gave lis a view of the chase, and uttered loud prayers for 
success in the combat. I admired the devout belief they 
aL possessed in the actual existence of unseen beings, and 
prayed that they might yet know that benignant One who 
views us all as his own. My own people, who are rather 
a degraded lot, remarked to me, as I came up, '' God gave 
it to us. He said to the old beast, 'Go up there : men are 
come who will kill and eat you.' '' These remarks are quoted 
to give the reader an idea of the native mode of expression. 

As we Avere now in the country of stringent game-laws, 
we were obliged to send all the way back to Nyampungo, 
to give information to a certain person who had been left 
there by the real owner of this district to watch over his 
property, the owner himself living near the Zambesi. The 
side upon which the elephant fell had a short, broken tusk; 
the upper one, which was ours, was large and thick. The 
JBanyai remarked on our good luck. The men sent to givo 
notice came back late in the afternoon of the following day. 
They brought a basket of corn, a fowl, and a few strings 
of handsome beads, as a sort of thank-offering for our 
having killed it on their land, and said they had thanked 
the Barimo besides for our success, adding, '' There it is : 
eat it and be glad.'' Had we begun to cut it up before we 
got this permission, we should have lost the whole. They 
brought a large party to eat their half, and they divided it 
with us in a friendly way. My men were delighted with 
the feast, though, b}^ lyii^g unopened a whole day, the 
carcass was pretty far gone. An astonishing number of 
hyenas collected round and kept up a loud laughter for 
two whole nights. Some of them do make a very good 
imitation of a laugh. I asked my men what the hyenas 
were laughing at, as they usually give animals credit for a 
share of intelligence. They said that they were laughing 
because we could not take the whole, and that they would 
have plenty to eat as well as we. 

On coming to the part where the elephant was slain, we 
passed through grass so tall that it reminded me of that in 



INSECT-LIFE — BIRDS. 389 

the valley of Cassange. Insects are very numerous after 
the rains commence. While waiting by the elephant, 1 
observed a great number of insects, like grains of fine sand, 
moving on my boxes. On examination with a glass, four 
species were apparent : one of green and gold preening its 
wings, which glanced in the sun with metallic lustre ; 
another clear as crystal ; a third of the color of vermilion ; 
and a fourth black. These are probably some of those 
which consume the seeds of every plant that grows. 
Almost every kind has its own peculiar insect, and when 
the rains are over very few seeds remain untouched. The 
rankest poisons, as the kongwhane and euphorbia, are soon 
devoured; the former has a scarlet insect; and even the fiery 
bird's-eye pepper, which will keep off many others from their 
own seeds, is itself devoured by a maggot. I observed here, 
what I had often seen before, that certain districts abound 
in centipedes. Here they have light reddish bodies and 
blue legs : great myriapedes are seen crawling everywhere. 
Although they do no harm, they excite in man a feeling of 
loathing. Perhaps our appearance produces a similar feel- 
ing in the elephant and other large animals. Where they 
have been much disturbed, they certainly look upon us with 
great distrust, as the horrid biped that ruins their peace. 
In the quietest parts of the forest there is heard a faint 
but distinct hum, which tells of insect joy. One may see 
many whisking about in the clear sunshine in patches 
among the green glancing leaves ; but there are invisible 
myriads working with never-tiring mandibles on leaves 
and stalks and beneath the soil. They are all brimful of 
enjoyment. Indeed, the universality of organic life may 
be called a mantle of happy existence encircling the world, 
and imparts the idea of its being caused by the conscious- 
ness of our benignant Father's smile on all the works of 
his hands. 

The birds of the tropics have been described as generally 
wanting in power of song. I was decidedly of opinion 
that this was not applicable to many parts in Londa, 

3a* 



890 BIRDS — CATERPILLARS. 

though birds there are remarkably scarce. Here the 
chorus, or body of song, was not much smaller in volume 
than it is in England. It was not so harmonious, and 
sounded always as if the birds were singing in a foreign 
tongue. Some resemble the lark, and, indeed, there are 
several of that family ; two have notes not unlike those of 
the thrush. One brought the chaffinch to my mind, and 
another the robin; but their songs are intermixed with 
several curious abrupt notes unlike any thing English. 
One utters deliberately ^'peek, pak, pok;'' another has a 
single note like a stroke on a violin-string. The mokwa 
reza gives forth a screaming set of notes like our blackbird 
when disturbed, then concludes with what the natives say 
is " pula, pula,'' (rain, rain,) but more like " weep, weep, 
w^eep.^' Then we have the loud cry of francolins, the 
<^pumpuru, pumpuru,'' of turtle-doves, and the "chiken, 
chiken, chik, churr, churr," of the honey-guide. Occasion- 
ally, near villages, we have a kind of mocking-bird, imi- 
tating the calls of domestic fowls. These African birds 
have not been wanting in song : they have only lacked 
poets to sing their praises, which ours have had from the 
time of Aristophanes downward. Ours have both a classic 
and a modern interest to enhance their fame. In hot, dry 
weather, or at mid-day when the sun is fierce, all are still : 
let, however, a good shower fall, and all burst forth at once 
into merry laj^s and loving courtship. The early mornings 
and the cool evenings are their favorite times for singing. 
There are comparatively few with gaudy plumage, being 
totally unlike, in this respect, the birds of the Brazils. 
The majority have decidedly a sober dress, though col- 
lectors, having generally selected the gaudiest as the most 
valuable, have conveyed the idea that the birds of the 
tropics for the most part possess gorgeous plumage. 

Ibth. — Several of my men have been bitten by spiders 
and other insects, but no effect except pain has followed. 
A large caterpillar is frequently seen, called lezuntabuea. 
It is covered with long gray hairs, and, the body being 



THE MOKORONGA. 391 

dark, it resembles a porcupine in miniature If one touohea 
it, the hairs run into the pores of the skin, and remain 
there, giving sharp pricks. There are others which have 
a similar means of defence; and when the hand is drawn 
across them, as in passing a bush on which they happen to 
be, the contact resembles the stinging of nettles. From 
the great number of caterpillars seen, we have a consider- 
able variety of butterflies. One particular kind flies more 
like a swallow than a butterfly. They are not remarkable 
for the gaudiness of their colors. 

In passing along, we crossed the hills Yungue or Mvung- 
we, which we found to be composed of various eruptive 
rocks. At one part we have breccia of altered marl or slate 
in quartz, and various amygdaloids. It is curious to observe 
the difl'erent forms which silica assumes. We have it in clay- 
stone porphj^ry here, no larger than turnip-seed, dotted 
thickly over the matrix; or crystallized round the walls of 
cavities once filled with air or other elastic fluid; or it may 
appear in similar cavities as tufts of yellow asbestos, or as 
red, yellow, or green crystals, or in lamina? so arranged as to 
appear like fossil wood. Yungue forms the watershed be- 
tween those sand-rivulets which run to the JST.E., and others 
which flow southward, as the Kapopo, Ue, and Due, which 
run into the Luia. 

We found that many elephants had been feeding on the 
fruit called mokoronga. This is a black-colored plum, 
having purple juice. We all ate it in large quantities, as 
we found it delicious. The only defect it has is the great 
size of the seed in comparison with the pulp. This is the 
chief fault of all uncultivated wild fruits. The moko- 
ronga exists throughout this part of the country most 
abundantly, and the natives eagerly devour it, as it is said 
to be perfectly wholesome, or, as they express it, "It is 
pure fat," and fat is by them considered the best of food. 
Though only a little larger than a cherry, we found that the 
elephants had stood picking them off patiently by the hour. 
We observed the footprints of a black rhinoceros {RhinO' 



392 THE RHINOCEROS. 

ceros bicornis, Linn.) and her calf. We saw other footprints 
among the hills of Semalembue; but the black rhinoceros 
is remarkably scarce in all the country north of the Zam- 
besi. The white rhinoceros {Rhinoceros simus of Burchell,) 
or Mohohu of the Bechuanas, is quite extinct here, and 
will soon become unknown in the country to the south. 
It feeds almost entirely on grasses, and is of a timid, un- 
suspecting disposition : this renders it an easy prey, and 
they are slaughtered without mercy on the introduction of 
fire-arms. The black possesses a more savage nature, and, 
like the ill-natured in general, is never found with an ounce 
of fat in its body. From its greater fierceness and wariness, 
it holds its place in a district much longer than its more 
timid and better-conditioned neighbor. Mr. OswcU was 
once stalking two of these beasts, and, as they came slowly 
to him, he, knowing that there is but little chance of hitting 
the small brain of this animal by a shot in the head, lay 
expecting one of them to give his shoulder till he was 
within a few yards. The hunter then thought that by 
making a rush to his side he might succeed in escaping; 
but the rhinoceros, too quick for that, turned upon him, 
and, though he discharged his gun close to the animal's 
head, he was tossed in the air. My friend was insensible 
for some time, and, on recovering, found large wounds on 
the thigh and body: I saw that on the former part still 
open, and five inches long. The white, however, is not 
always quite safe, for one, even after it was mortally 
wounded, attacked Mr. Oswell's horse, and thrust the 
horn through to the saddle, tossing at the time both horse 
and rider. I once saw a white rhinoceros give a buffalo, 
which was gazing intently at myself, a poke in the chest, 
but it did not wound it, and seemed only a hint to get out 
of the way. Four varieties of the rhinoceros are enume- 
rated by naturalists, but my observation led me to conclude 
that there are but two, and that the extra species have 
been formed from differences in their sizes, ages, and the 
direction of the horns ; as if we should reckon the short- 



HONEY AND WAX. 893 

horned cattle a different species from the Alderneys or the 
Highland breed. I was led to this from having once seen 
a black rhinoceros with a horn bent downward like that 
of the kuabaoba, and also because the animals of the two 
great varieties differ very much in appearance at different 
stages of their growth. I find, however, that Dr. Smith, 
the best judge in these matters, is quite decided as to the 
propriety of the subdivision into three or four species. For 
common readers it is sufficient to remember that there are 
two well-defined species, that differ entirely in appearance 
and food. The absence of both these rhinoceroses among 
the reticulated rivers in the central valley may easily be 
accounted for, they would be such an easy prey to the 
natives in their canoes at the jjeriods of inundation ; but 
one cannot so readily account for the total absence of the 
giraffe and ostrich on the high open lands of the Batoka 
north of the Zambesi, unless we give credence to the native 
report which bounds the country still farther north by 
another network of waters near Lake Shuia, and suppose 
that it also prevented their progress southward. The Ba- 
toka have no name for the giraffe or the ostrich in their lan- 
guage; yet, as the former exists in considerable numbers 
in the angle formed by the Leeambye and Chobe, they 
may have come from the north along the western ridge. 
The Chobe would seem to have been too narrow to act as 
an obstacle to the giraffe, supposing it to have come into 
that district from the south; but the broad river into 
which that stream flows seems always to have presented 
an impassable barrier to both the giraffe and the ostrich, 
though they abound on its southern border, both in the 
Kalahari Desert and the country of Mashona. 

The honey-guides were very assiduous in their friendly 
offices, and enabled my men to get a large quantity of 
honey. But, though bees abound, the wax of these parts 
forms no article of trade. In Londa it may be said to be 
fully cared for, as you find hives placed upon trees in the 
inoet lonesome forests. We often met strings of carriers 



S94 SLOW TRAVELLINa. 

laden wit'a large blocks of this substance, each eighty or 
a hundred pounds in weight, and pieces were oifered to 
us for sale at every village 3 but here we never saw a single 
artificial hive. The bees were always found in the natural 
cavities of mopane-trees. It is probable that the good 
market for wax afforded to Angola by the churches of 
Brazil led to the gradual development of that branch of 
commerce there. I saw even on the banks of the Quango as 
much as sixpence paid for a pound. In many parts of the 
Batoka country bees exist in vast numbers, and the tribute 
due to Sekeletu is often paid in large jars of honey; but, 
having no market nor use for the wax, it is thrown away. 
This was the case also with ivory at the Lake Ngami at 
the period of its discovery. 

Though we are now approaching the Portuguese settle- 
ment, the country is still full of large game. My men 
killed six buffalo-calves out of a herd we met. The abun- 
dance of these animals, and also of antelopes, shows the in- 
sufficiency of the bow and arrow to lessen their numbers. 
There are also a great many lions and hyenas, and there in 
no check upon the increase of the former, for the people, 
believing that the souls of their chiefs enter into them, 
never attempt to kill them : they even believe that a chief 
may metamorphose himself into a lion, kill any one he 
chooses, and then return to the human form : therefore, 
when they see one, they commence clapping their hands, 
which is the usual mode of salutation here. The conse- 
quence is that lions and hyenas are so abundant that we 
see little huts made in the trees, indicating the places where 
some of the inhabitants have slept when benighted in the 
fields. As numbers of my men frequently left the line of 
inarch in order to take out the korwes from their nests 
or follow the honey-guides, they excited the astonishment 
of our guides, who were constantly warning them of the 
danger they thereby incurred from lions. I was often con- 
siderably ahead of the main body of my men on this ac- 
count, and was obliged to stop every hour or two ; but, the 



GRAPES. 31).'' 

Bun being excessively hot by day, I was glad of the excuse 
for resting. We could make no such prodigious strides as 
officers in the Arctic regions are able to do. Ten or twelve 
miles a day were a good march for both the men and my- 
self; and it was not the length of the marches, but con- 
tinuing day after day to perform the same distance, that 
was so fatiguing. It was in this case much longer than ap- 
pears on the map, because we kept out of the way of vil- 
lages. I drank less than the natives when riding; but all my 
clothing was now constantly damp from the moisture which 
was imbibed in large quantities at every pond. One does 
not stay on these occasions to prepare water with alum 
or any thing else, but drinks any amount without fear. 1 
never felt the atmosphere so steamy as on the low-lying 
lands of the Zambesi ; and yet it was becoming cooler than 
it was on the highlands. 

- "We crossed the rivulets Kapopo and TJe, now running but 
usually dry. There are great numbers of wild grape-vines 
growing in this quarter : indeed, they abound everywhere 
along the banks of the Zambesi. In the Batoka country 
there is a variety which yields a black grape of considerable 
sweetness. The leaves are very large and harsh, as if capa- 
ble of withstanding the rays of this hot sun; but the most 
common kinds — one with a round leaf and a greenish 
grape, and another with a leaf closely resembling that of 
the cultivated varieties and with dark or purple fruit — 
have large seeds, which are strongly astringent and render 
it a disagreeable fruit. The natives eat all the varieties; and 
I tasted vinegar made by a Portuguese from these grapes. 
Probably a country which yields the wild vines so very 
abundantly might be a fit one for the cultivated species. 
At this part of the journey so many of the vines had run 
across the little footpath we followed that one had to 
be constantly on the watch to avoid being tripped. The 
ground was covered with rounded shingle, which was not 
easily seen among the grass. Pedcstrianism may be all 
very well for those whose obesity requires much exercise; 



396 THE UE — monina's village. 

but for one who was becoming as thin as a lath, thiough 
the constant perspiration caused by marching day after 
day in the hot sun, the only good I saw in it was that it 
gave an honest sort of a man a vivid idea of the tread- 
mill. 

Although the rains were not quite over, great numbers 
of pools were drying up, and the ground was in many 
parts covered with small green cryptogamous plants, which 
gave it a mouldy appearance and a strong smell. As we 
sometimes pushed aside the masses of rank vegetation 
which hung over our path, we felt a sort of hot blast on our 
faces. Every thing looked unwholesome ; but we had no 
fever. The Ue flows betvveen high banks of a soft red 
sandstone streaked with white, and pieces of tufa. The 
crumbUng sandstone is evidently alluvial, and is cut into 
twelve feet deep. In this region, too, we met with pot- 
holes six feet deep and three or four in diameter. In some 
cases they form convenient wells ; in others they are full 
of earth; and in others still the people have made them 
into graves for their chiefs. 

On the 20th we came to Monina's village, (close to the 
sand-river Tangwe, latitude 16° 13' 38" south, longitude 
32° 32' east.) This man is very popular among the tribes, 
on account of his liberality. Boroma, Nyampiingo, Mo- 
nina, Jira, Katolosa, (Monomotapa,) and Susa, all acknow- 
ledge the supremacy of one called Nyatewe, who is re- 
ported to decide all disputes respecting land. 

When we told Monina that we had nothing to present 
but some hoes, he replied that he was not in need of those 
articles, and that he had absolute power over the country 
in front, and if he prevented us from proceeding no one 
would say any thing to him. His little boy Boronio having 
come to the encampment to look at us, I gave him a knife, 
and lie went off and brought a pint of honey for me. The 
father came soon afterward, and I offered him a shirt. He 
remarked to his councillors, "It is evident that this man 
has nothing, for, if he had, his people would be buying 



INSANITY AND DISAPPEARANCE OF MONAHIN. 397 

provisions, but we don't see them going about for that pur- 
pose." His council did not agree in this. They evidently 
believed that we had goods but kept them hid, and we fell 
it rather hard to be suspected of falsehood. It was pro- 
bably at their suggestion that in the evening a war-dance 
was got up about a hundred yards from our encampment. 
as if to put us in fear and force us to bring forth presents. 
Some of Monina's young men had guns, but most were 
armed with large bows, arrows, and spears. They beat 
their drums furiously, and occasionally fired off a gun. As 
this sort of dance is never got up unless there is an inten- 
tion to attack, my men expected an assault. We sat and 
looked at them for some time, and then, as it became dark, 
lay down all ready to give them a warm reception. But an 
hour or two after dark the dance ceased, and^ as we then 
saw no one approaching us, we went to sleep. During the 
night, one of my head-men, Monahin, was seen to get up, 
look toward the village, and say to one who was half 
awake, "Don't you hear what these people are saying? 
Go and listen." He then walked off in the opposite direc- 
tion, and never returned. We had no guard set, but every 
one lay with his spear in his hand. The man to whom he 
spoke appears to have been in a dreamy condition, for it 
did not strike him that he ought to give the alarm. Next 
morning I found to my sorrow that Monahin was gone, 
and not a trace of him could be discovered. He had an 
attack of pleuritis some weeks before, and had recovered, 
but latterly complained a little of his head. I observed 
him in good spirits on the way hither, and in crossing 
some of the streams, as I was careful not to wet my feet, 
he aided me, and several times joked at my becoming so 
light. In the evening he sat beside my tent until it was 
dark, and did not manifest any great alarm. It was pro- 
bably either a sudden fit of insanity, or, having gOK3 a little 
way out from the camp, he may have been carried off by a 
lion, as this part of the country is full of them. I ixicHne to 
the former opinion, because sudden insanity occurs when 

34 



308 SAND-RIVER TANGWE. 

there is any unusual strain upon their minds. Monahiu was 
in command of the Batoka of Mokvv^ine in my party, and he 
was looked upon with great dislike by all that chief's sub- 
jects. The only difficulties I had with them arose in con- 
sequence of being obliged to give orders through him. 
They said Mokwine is reported to have been killed by tho 
Makololo, but Monahin is the individual who put forth his 
hand and slew him. When one of these people kills in 
battle, he seems to have no compunction afterward; but 
when he makes a foray on his own responsibility, and kills 
a man of note, the common people make remarks to each 
other, which are reported to him and bring the affair per- 
petually to his remembrance. This iteration on the con- 
science causes insanity, and, when one runs away in a wide 
country like this, the fugitive is never heard of. Monahin 
had lately become afraid of his own party from overhearing 
their remarks, and said more than once to me, " They want 
to kill me.'' I believe if he ran to any village they would 
take care of him. I felt his loss greatly, and spent three 
days in searching for him. He was a sensible and most 
oL'i^'ging man. I sent in the morning to inform Monina of 
this sad event, and he at once sent to all the gardens 
around, desiring the people to look for him, and, should ho 
come near, to bring him home. He evidently sympathized 
with us in our sorrow, and, afraid lest we might suspect 
him, added, ''We never catch nor kidnap people here. It 
is not our custom. It is considered as guilt among all the 
tribes." I gave him credit for truthfulness, and he allowed 
us to move on without further molestation. 

After leaving his village, we marched in the bed of a 
sand-river a quarter of a mile broad, called Tangwe. 
Walking on this sand is as fatiguing as walking on snow. 
The country is flat, and covered with low trees; but we see 
high hills in the distance. A little to the south we have 
those of the Lobole. This region is very much infested by 
lions, and men never go any distance into the woods alone. 
Having turned aside on one occasion at mid-day, and gone 



THE ORDEAL MUAVr. 390 

a short distance among grass a little taller than myself, an 
animal sprang away from me which was certainly not an 
antelope, but I could not distinguish whether it was a lion 
or a hyena. This abundance of carnivora made us lose all 
hope of Monahin. We saw footprints of many black rhi- 
noceroses, buifalos, and zebras. 

After a few hours we reached the village of Nyakoba. 
Two men who accompanied us from Monina to Nyakoba's 
would not believe us when we said that we had no beads. 
It is very trying to have one's veracity doubted; but, on 
opening the boxes, and showing them that all I had 
was perfectly useless to them, they consented to receive 
some beads off Sekwebu's waist, and I promised to send 
four yards of calico from Tete. As we came away from 
Monina' s village, a witch-doctor, who had been sent for, 
arrived, and all Monina's wives went forth into the fields 
that morning fasting. There they would be compelled 
to drink an infusion of a plant named ^'goho," which 
is used as an ordeal. This ceremony is called *^ muavi,'' 
and is performed in this way. When a man suspects 
that any of his wives has bewitched him, he si ids 
for the witch-doctor, and all the wives go forth into the 
field and remain fasting till that person has made an 
infusion of the plant. They all drink it, each one holding 
up her hand to heaven in attestation of her innocency. 
Those who vomit it are considered innocent, while those 
whom it purges are pronounced guilty, and put to death by 
burning. The innocent return to their homes, and slaughter 
a cock as a thank-offering to their guardian spirits. The 
practice of ordeal is common among all the negro nations 
north of the Zambesi. This summary procedure excited 
my surprise, for my intercourse with the natives here had 
led me to believe that the women were held in so much 
estimation that the men would not dare to get rid of them 
thus. But the explanation I received was this. The 
slightest imputation makes them eagerly desire the test; 
they are conscious of being innocent, and have the fuUesli 



400 woman's rights. 

faith in the muavi detecting the guilty alone: hence they 
go willingly, and even eagerly, to drink it. When in An- 
gola, a half-caste was pointed out to me who is one of tho 
most successful merchants in that country; and the mother 
of this gentleman, who was perfectly free, went, of her 
own accord, all the way from Ambaca to Cassange, to be 
killed by the ordeal, her rich son making no objection. 
The same custom prevails among the Barotse, Bashubia, 
and Batoka, but with slight variations. The Barotse, for 
instance, pour the medicine down the throat of a cock or 
of a dog, and judge of the innocence or guilt of the person 
accused according to the vomiting or purging of the 
animal. I happened to mention to my own men the water- 
test for witches formerly in use in Scotland: the supposed 
witch, being bound hand and foot, was thrown into a pond : 
if she floated, she was considered guilty, taken out, and 
burned; but if she sank and was drowned, she was pro- 
nounced innocent. The wisdom of my ancestors excited 
as much wonder in their minds as their custom did in 
mine. 

The person whom Nyakoba appointed to be our guide, 
having informed us of the decision, came and bargained 
that his services should be rewarded with a hoe. I had 
no objection to give it, and showed him the article : he 
was delighted with it, and went off to show it to his wife. 
He soon afterward returned, and said that, though he was 
perfectly willing to go, his wife would not let him. I said, 
"Then bring back the hoej" but he replied, "I want it." 
*' Well, go with us, and you shall have it." " But my wife 
won't let me." I remarked to my men, " Did you ever 
hear such a fool V They answered, " Oh, that is the cus- 
tom of these parts : the wives are the masters." And 
Sekwebu informed me that he had gone to this man's 
house, and heard him saying to his wife, "Do you think 
that I would ever leave you ?" then, turning to Sekwebu, 
he asked, "Do you think I would leave this pretty 
woman ? Is she not pretty?" Sekwebu had been making 



■woman's rights. 401 

inquiries among the people, and had found that the 
women indeed possessed a great deal of influence. We 
questioned the guide whom we finally got from Nya- 
koha, an intelligent young man, who had much of the 
Arab features, and found the statements confirmed. 
When a young man takes a liking for a girl of another 
village, and the parents have no objection to the match, 
he is obliged to come and live at their village. He has 
to perform certain services for the mother-in-law, such 
as keeping her well supplied with firewood; and when 
he comes into her presence he is obliged to sit with his 
knees in a bent position, as putting out his feet toward 
the old lady would give her great offence. If he becomes 
tired of living in this state of vassalage, and wishes to re- 
turn to his own familj^, he is obliged to leave all his chil- 
dren behind : they belong to the wife. This is only a 
more stringent enforcement of the law from which ema- 
nates the practice which prevails so very extensively in 
Africa, known to Europeans as "buying wives." Such 
virtually it is ; but it does not appear quite in that light 
to the actors. So many head of cattle or goats are given 
to the parents of the girl. " to give her up," as it is termed, 
— i.e. to forego all claim on her offspring and allow an 
entire transference of her and her seed into another family. 
If nothing is given, the family from which she has come 
can claim the children as part of itself: the payment is 
made to sever this bond. In the case supposed, the young 
man has not been able to advance any thing for that pur- 
pose; and, from the temptations placed here before my 
men, I have no doubt that some prefer to have their 
daughters married in that way, as it leads to the increase 
of their own village. My men excited the admiration 
of the Bambiri, who took them for a superior breed on 
account of their bravery in elephant-hunting, and wished 
to get them as sons-in-law on the conditions named ; but 
none yielded to the temptation. 

We were informed that there is a child belonging to a 
2 A 3i* 



402 THE WEATHER. 

half-caste Portuguese in one of these tribes, and the father 
had tried in vain to get him from the mother's parents. 
Wo saw several things to confirm the impression of tho 
higher position which women hold here ; and, being anxious 
to discover if I were not mistaken, when we came among 
tho Portuguese I inquired of them, and was told that they 
had ascertained the same thing; and that, if they wished 
a man to perform any service for them, he would reply, 
*'Well, I shall go and ask my wife.'^ If she consented, he 
would go and perform his duty faithfully; but no amount 
of coaxing or bribery would induce him to do it if she 
refused. The Portuguese praised the appearance of the 
Eanyai ; and they certainly are a fine race. 

We got on better with Nyakoba than we expected. He 
has been so much affected by the sesenda that he is quite 
decrepit, and requires to be fed. I at once showed hia 
messenger that we had nothing whatever to give. Nya- 
koba was offended with him for not believing me, and he 
immediately sent a basket of maize and another of corn, 
saying that ho believed my statement, and would send 
men with me to Tete who would not lead me to any other 
village. 

The birds here sing very sweetly, and I thought I heard 
the canary, as in Londa. We had a heavy shower of rain; 
and I observed that the thermometer sank 14° in one hour 
afterward. From the beginning of February we expe- 
rienced a sensible diminution of temperature. In January 
the lowest was 75°, and that at sunrise; the average at 
the same hour (sunrise) being 79°; at 3 p.m., 90°; and at 
sunset, 82°. In February it fell as low as 70° in the course 
01 the night, and the average height was 88°. Only once did 
it rise to 94°, and a thunder-storm followed this; yet the 
sensation of heat was greater now than it had been at 
much higher temperatures on more elevated lands. 

We passed several villages by going roundabout ways 
through the forest. We saw the remains of a lion that had 
been killed by a buffalo, and the horns of a putokwane, 



THE BANYAI. 403 

(black antelope,) the finest I had ever seen, which had met 
ts death by a lion. The drums, beating all night in one 
village near which we slept, showed that some person in it 
had finished his course. On the occasion of the death of a 
chief, a trader is liable to be robbed, for the people consider 
themselves not amenable to law until a new one is elected. 
We continued a very winding course, in order to avoid the 
chief Katolosa, who is said to levy large sums upon those 
who fall into his hands. One of our guides was a fine, tall 
young man, the very image of Ben Habib the Arab. They 
were carrying dried buffalo's meat to the market at Tete 
as a private speculation. 

A great many of the Banyai are of a light coifee-and- 
milk color, and, indeed, this color is considered handsome 
throughout the whole country, a fair complexion being as 
much a test of beauty with them as with us. As they 
draw out their hair into small cords a foot in length, and 
entwine the inner bark of a certain tree round each sepa- 
rate cord, and dye this substance of a reddish color, many 
of them put me in mind of the ancient Egyptians. The 
great mass of dressed hair which they possess reaches to 
the shoulders, but when they intend to travel they draw it 
up to a bunch and tie it on the top of the head. They are 
cleanly in their habits. 

As we did not come near human habitations, and could 
only take short stages on account of the illness of one of 
my men, I had an opportunity of observing the expedients 
ray party resorted to in order to supply their wants. 
Large white edible mushrooms are found on the ant-hills, 
and are very good. The mokuri, a tuber which abounds 
in the Mopane country, they discovered by percussing the 
ground with stones; and another tuber, about the size of a 
turnip, called "bonga,'' is found in the same situations. It 
does not determine to the joints like the mokuri, and in 
winter has a sensible amount of salt in it. A fruit called 
<^ndongo" by the Makololo, "dongolo" by the Bambiri, 
resembles in appearance a small plum, which becomes 



404 PURSUED BY NATIVES. 

black when ripe, and is good food, as the seeds are small. 
Many trees are known by tradition, and one received 
curious bits of information in asking about different fruits 
that are met with. A tree named *^ shekabakadzi" is su- 
perior to all others for making fire by friction. As its 
name implies, women may even readily make fire by it 
when benighted. 

We were tolerably successful in avoiding the villages, 
and slept one night on the flanks of the hill Zimika, where 
a great number of deep pot-holes afforded an abundant 
supply of good rain-water. Here, for the first time, we 
saw hills with bare, smooth, rocky tops, and we crossed 
over broad dikes of gneiss and syenitic porphyry: tho 
directions in which they lay were N. and S. As we wero 
now near to Tete, we were congratulating ourselves on 
having avoided those who would only have plagued us; 
but next morning some men saw us, and ran off to inform 
the neighboring villages of our passing. A party imme- 
diately pursued us, and, as they knew we were within call 
of Katoldsa, (Monomotapa,) they threatened to send infor- 
mation to that chief of our offence in passing through the 
country without leave. We were obliged to give them two 
small tusks ; for, had they told Katolosa of our supposed 
offence, we should in all probability have lost the whole. 
We then went through a very rough, stony country with- 
out any path. Being pretty well tired out in the evening 
of the 2d of March, 1 remained at about eight miles' distance 
from Tete, Tette, or Nyungwe. My men asked me to go 
on : I felt too fatigued to proceed, but sent forward to the 
commandant the letters of recommendation with which I 
had been favored in Angola by the bishop and others, and 
lay down to rest. Our food having been exhausted, my 
men had been subsisting for some time on roots and honey. 
About two o'clock in the morning of the 3d we were 
aroused by two ofiicers and a company of soldiers, who had 
been sent with the materials for a civilized breakfast and a 
" masheela" to bring me to Tete. (Commandant's house ; 



GENEROSITY OP I HE COMMANDANT. 405 

lat. 16° 9' 3" S., long. 33° 28' E.) My companions thought 
that we were captured by the armed men, and called me 
in alarm. When I understood the errand on which they had 
come, and nad partaKcn ot a good breakfast, though I had 
just before been too tired to sleep, all ray fatigue vanished. 
It was the most refreshing breakfast I ever partook of; 
and I walked the last eight miles without the least feeling 
of weariness, although the path was so rough that one of 
the officers remarked to me, " This is enough to tear a 
man's life out of him.'' The pleasure experienced in par- 
taking of that breakfast was only equalled by the enjoy- 
ment of Mr. Gabriel's bed on my arrival at Loanda. It 
was also enhanced by the news that Sebastopol had fallen 
and the war was finished. 



CHAPTEE XXXI. 
DR. Livingstone's residence at tete. 

I WAS most kindly received by the commandant, Tito 
Augusto d'Araujo Sicard, who did every thing in his power 
to restore me from my emaciated condition ; and, as this 
was still the unhealthy period at Kilimane, he advised me 
to remain with him until the following month. He also 
generously presented my men with abundant provisions of 
millet J and, by giving them lodgings in a house of his own 
until they could erect their own huts, he preserved them 
from the bite of the tampans, here named Carapatos. We 
had heard frightful accounts of this insect while among the 
Banyai ; and Major Sicard assured me that to strangers its 
bite is more especially dangerous, as it sometimes causes 
fatal fever It may please our homoeopathic friends to hear 
that, in curing the bite of the tampan, the natives admi- 
nister one of the insects bruised in the medicine employed. 

The village of Tete is built on a long slope down to the 



400 tete: its population 

river, the fort being close to the water. The rock beneath 
is gray sandstone, and has the appearance of being crushed 
away from the river : the strata have thus a crumpled 
form. The hollow between each crease is a street, the 
houses being built upon the projecting fold. The rocks at 
the top of the slope are much higher than the fort, and, of 
course, completely command it. There is then a large 
valley, and beyond that an oblong hill called Karueira. 
There are about thirty European houses : the rest are 
native, and of wattle and daub. A wall about ten feet 
high is intended to enclose the village ; but most of the 
native inhabitants prefer to live on different spots outside. 
There are about twelve hundred huts in all, which with 
European households would give a population of about 
four thousand five hundred souls. Only a small proportion 
of these, however, live on the spot; the majority are en- 
gaged in agricultural operations in the adjacent country. 
Generally there are not more than two thousand people 
resident, for, compared with what it was, Tete is now a 
ruin. The number of Portuguese is very small ; if we ex- 
clude the military, it is under twenty. Latel}^, however, 
one hundred and five soldiers were sent from Portugal to 
Senna, where in one year twenty-five were cut off by fever. 
They were then removed to Tete; and here they enjoy 
much better health, though, from the abundance of spirits 
distilled from various plants, wild fruits, and grain, in 
which pernicious beverage they largely indulge, besides 
partaking chiefly of unwholesome native food, better health 
could scarcely have been expected. The natives here un- 
derstand the method of distillation by means of gun-barrels 
and a succession of earthen pots filled with water to keep 
them cool. The general report of the fever here is that, 
while at Kilimane the fever is continuous, at Tete a man 
recovers in about three days. The mildest remedies only 
are used at first, and, if that period be passed, then the 
more severe. 
The fort of Tete has been the salvation of the Portuguese 



DECADENCE OF PORTUGUESE POWER. 407 

power in this quarter. It is a small square building, with 
a thatched apartment for the residence of the troops ; and, 
though there are but few guns, they are in a much better -n 
state than those of any fort in the interior of Angola. 
The cause of the decadence of the Portuguese power in 
this region is simply this : — In former times, considerable 
quantities of grain, as wheat, millet, and maize, were ex- 
ported ; also coffee, sugar, oil, and indigo, besides gold-dust 
and ivory. The cultivation of grain was carried on by 
means of slaves, of whom the Portuguese possessed a large 
number. The gold-dust was procured by washing at various 
points on the north, south, and west of Tete. A merchant 
took all his .slaves with him to the washings, carrying as 
much calico and other goods as he could muster. On 
arriving at the washing-place, he made a present to the 
chief of the value of about a pound sterling. The slaves 
were then divided into parties, each headed by a confiden- 
tial servant, who not only had the supervision of his squad 
while the washing went on, but bought dust from the inhabit- 
ants and made a weekly return to his master. When several 
masters united at one spot, it was called a *^Bara/' and 
they then erected a temporary church, in which a priest 
from one of the missions performed mass. Both chiefs 
and people were favorable to these visits, because the 
traders purchased grain for the sustenance of the slaves 
with the goods they had brought. They continued at this 
labor until the whole of the goods were expended ; and by 
this means about one hundred and thirty pounds of gold 
were annually produced. Probably more than this was 
actually obtained, but, as it was an article easily secreted, 
this alone was submitted to the authorities for taxation. At 
present the whole amount of gold obtained annually by 
the Portuguese is from eight to ten pounds only. When 
the slave-trade began, it seemed to many of the merchants 
a more speedy mode of becoming rich to sell off the slaves 
than to pursue the slow mode of gold-washing and agricul- 
ture, and they continued to export them until they had 



408 TETE PLUNDERED AND BURNED. 

neither hands to labor nor to fight for them. It was just 
the story of the goose and the golden egg. The coffee 
and sugar plantations and gold-washings were abandoned, 
because the labor had been exported to the Brazils. Many 
of the Portuguese then followed their slaves, and the 
Government was obliged to pass a law to prevent further 
emigration, which, had it gone on, would have depopu- 
lated the Portuguese possessions altogether. A clever 
man of Asiatic (Goa) and Portuguese extraction, called 
Nyaude, now built a stockade at the confluence of the 
Luenya and Zambesi; and, when the commandant of Tete 
sent an officer with his company to summon him to his 
presence, Nyaude asked permission of the officer to dress 
himself, which being granted, he went into an inner apart- 
ment, and the officer ordered his men to pile their arms. 
A drum of war began to beat a note which is well known 
to the inhabitants. Some of the soldiers took the alarm 
on hearing this note; but the officer, disregarding their 
warning, was, with his whole part}'', in a few minutes dis- 
armed and bound hand and foot. The commandant of 
Tete then armed the whole body of slaves and marched 
against the stockade of Nyaude ; but when they came near 
to it there was the Luenya still to cross. As they did not 
effect this speedily, Nyaude despatched a strong party 
under his son Bonga across the river below the stockade, 
and up the left bank of the Zambesi until they came near 
to Tete. They then attacked Tete, which was wholly un- 
defended save by a few soldiers in the fort, plundered and 
burned the whole town except the house of the command- 
ant and a few others, with the church and fort. Tne 
women and children fled into the church ; and it is a re- 
markable fact that none of the natives of this region will 
ever attack a church. Having rendered Tete a ruin, Bonga 
carried off all the cattle and plunder to his father. Kews 
of this having been brought to the army before the stock- 
ade, a sudden panic dispersed the whole ; and, as the fugi- 
tives took roundabout ways in their flight, Katolosa^ who 



SEAMS OF COAL. 409 

and hitherto pretended to be friendly with the Portuguese, 
sent out his men to capture as many of them as they could. 
They killed many for the sake of their arms. This is the 
account which both natives and Portuguese give of tho 
affair. 

The merchants were unable to engage in trade, and com- 
merce, which the slave-trade had rendered stagnant, was 
now completely obstructed. The present commandant of 
Tete, Major Sicard, having great influence among the 
natives, from his good character, put a stop to tho war 
more than once by his mere presence on the spot. We 
heard of him among the Banyai as a man with whom they 
would never fight, because " he had a good heart." Had 
I come down to this coast instead of going to Loanda in 
1853, I should have come among the belligerents while the 
war was still raging, and should probably have been cut 
off. My present approach was just at the conclusion of 
the peace; and when the Portuguese authorities here 
were informed, through the kind offices of Lord Clarendon 
and Count de Lavradio, that I was expected to come this 
way, they all declared that such was the existing state of 
affairs that no European could possibly pass through the 
tribes. Some natives at last came down the river to Tete 
and said, alluding to the sextant and artificial horizon, 
that 'Uhe Son of God had come," and that he was ^<able 
to take the sun down from the heavens and place it under 
his arm !" Major Sicard then felt sure that this was the 
man mentioned in Lord Clarendon's despatch. 

On mentioning to the commandant that I had discovered 
a small seam of coal, he stated that the Portuguese were 
already aware of nine such seams, and that five cf them 
were on the opposite bank of the river. As soon as I had 
vecovered from my fatigue I went to examine them. We 
proceeded in a boat to the mouth of the Lofiibu or Eeviibu. 
j^hich is about two miles below Tete and on the opposite 
>r northern bank. Ascending this about four miles against 
I strong cuiTent of beautifully-clear water, we landed near 

35 



•I 10 HOT SPRINGS. 

a small cataract, and walked about two miles through vci-y 
fertile gardens to the seam, which we found to be in one 
of the feeders of the Lofubu, called Muatize or Motize. 
The seam is in the perpendicular bank, and dips into the 
rivulet, or in a northerly direction. There is, first of all, 
a seam ten inches in diameter, then some shale, below 
which there is another seam, fifty-eight inches of which 
are seen, and, as the bottom touches the water of the 
Muatize, it may be more. This part of the seam is about 
thirty yards long. There is then a fault. About one 
hundred yards higher up the stream, black vesicular trap 
is seen, penetrating in thin veins the clay shale of the 
country, converting it into porcellanite, and partially 
crystallizing the coal with which it came into contact. 
On the right bank of the Lofubu there is another feeder 
entering that river near its confluence with the Muatize, 
which is called the Morongozi, in which there is another 
and still larger bed of coal exposed. Farther up the Lo- 
fubu there are other scams in the rivulets Inyavu and 
Makare ; also several spots in the Maravi country have 
the coal cropping out. This has evidently been brought to 
the surface by volcanic action at a later period than the 
coal-formation. 

I also went up the Zambesi, and visited a hot spring 
called Nyamboronda, situated in the bed of a small rivulet 
named Nyaondo, which shows that igneous action is not 
yet extinct. We landed at a small rivulet called Moko- 
rozi, then went a mile or two to the eastward, where we 
found a hot fountain at the bottom of a high hill. A little 
spring bubbles up on one side of the rivulet Nyaondo, and 
a great quantity of acrid steam rises up from the ground 
adjacent, about twelve feet square of which is so hot that 
ray companions could not stand on it with their bare feet. 
There are several little holes from which the water 
trickles; but the principal spring is in a hole a foot in 
diameter and about the same in depth. Numbers of 
bubbles are constantly rising. The steam feels acrid in 



COAL-SEAMS. 411 

the throat, but is not inflammable, as it did not burn when 
I held a bunch of lighted grass over the bubbles. The 
mercury rises to 158° when the thermometer is put into 
the water in the hole; but after a few seconds it stands 
steadily at 160°. Even when flowing over the stones the 
water is too hot for the hand. Little fish frequently leap 
out of the stream in the bed of which the fountain rises, 
into the hot water, and get scalded to death. We saw a 
frog which had performed the experiment and was now 
cooked. The stones over which the water flows are in- 
crusted with a white salt, and the water has a saline taste. 
The ground has been dug out near the fountain by the 
natives, in order to extract the salt it contains. It is 
situated among rocks of syenitic porj^hyry in broad dikes, 
and gneiss tilted on edge and having a strike to the N.B. 
There are many specimens of half-formed pumice, with 
greenstone and lava. Some of the sandstone strata are 
dislocated by a hornblende rock and by basalt, the sand- 
stone nearest to the basalt being converted into quartz. 

The country around, as indeed all the district lying N. 
and N.W. of Tete, is hilly, and, the hills being covered 
with trees, the scenery is very picturesque. The soil of 
the valleys is very fruitful and well cultivated. There 
would not be much difficulty in working the coal. The 
Lofubu is about sixty yards broad : it flows perenniall}'', 
and at its very lowest period, which is after September, 
there is water about eighteen inches deep, which could be 
navigated in flat-bottomed boats. At the time of my visit 
it was full, and the current was very strong. If the small 
cataract referred to were to be avoided, the land-carriage 
beyond would only be about two miles. The other seams 
farther up the river may, after passing the cataract, be 
approached more easily than that in the Muatize: as the 
Beam, however, dips down into the stream, no drainage 
of the mine would be required, for if water were come to 
it would run into the stream. I did not visit the others, 
but I was informed that there are seams in the independent 



412 work^'en's wages. 

native territory as well as in that of the Portugue»: That 
in the Nake is in the Banyai country; and, indeed, 1 hav« 
no doubt but that the whole country between Zumbo and 
Lupata is a coal-field of at least two and a half degrees 
of latitude in breadth, having many faults, made during 
the time of the igneous action. The gray sandstone rock, 
having silicified trees lying on it, is of these dimensions. 
The plantation in which the seam of coal exists would bo 
valued among the Portuguese at about 60 dollars, or £12; 
but much more would probably be asked if a wealthy pur- 
chaser appeared. They could not, however, raise the j^rice 
very much higher, because estates containing coal might 
be had from the native owners at a much cheaper rate. 
The wages of free laborers, when employed in such work 
as gold-washing, agriculture, or digging coal, is two yards 
of unbleached calico per day. They might be got to work 
much cheajier if engaged by the moon, or for about sixteen 
yards per month. For masons and carpenters even, the 
ordinary rate is two yards per day. This is called one 
braga. Tradesmen from Kilimane demand four bragas, or 
eight yards, j)er day. English or American unbleached 
calico is the only currency used. The carriage of goods 
lip the river to Tete adds about ten per cent, to their cost. 
The usual conveyance is by means of very large canoes 
and launches built at Senna. 

The amount of merchandise brought up during the five 
months of peace previous to my visit was of the value 
of 30,000 dollars, or about £6000. The annual supply of 
goods for trade is about £15,000, — being calico, thick 
brass wire, beads, gunpowder, and guns. The quantity 
of the latter is, however, small, as the Government of 
Mozambique made that article contraband after the com- 
mencement of the war. Goods, when traded with in the 
tribes around the Portuguese, produce a profit of only 
about ten per cent., the articles traded in being ivory and 
gold-dust. A little oil and wheat are exported, but nothing 
else. Trade with the tribes beyond the exclusive ones is 



TRADE — PRICES. 413 

much better. Thirty brass rings cost 10s. at Senna, £1 a1 
Tete, and £2 beyond the tribes in the vicinity of Tete : 
these are a good price for a penful of gold-dust of tho 
value of £2. The plantations of coffee, which, previous to 
the oommencement of the slave-trade, yielded one material 
for exportation, are now deserted, and it is difficult to find 
a single tree. The indigo (Indigofera argentea, the common 
wild indigo of Africa) is found growing everywhere, and 
large quantities of the senna-plant* grow in the village 
of Tete and other parts; but neither indigo nor senna is 
collected. Calumba-root, which is found in abundance in 
some parts farther down the river, is bought by the 
Americans, it is said, to use as a dye-stuff. A kind of 
Barsaparilla, or a plant which is believed by the Portu- 
guese to be such, is found from Londa to Senna, but has 
never been exported. 

The price of provisions is low, but very much higher 
than previous to the commencement of the war. Two 
yards of calico are demanded for six fowls : this is con- 
sidered very dear, because before the war the same quan- 
tity of calico was worth twenty-four fowls. Grain is sold 
in little bags made from the leaves of the palmyra, like 
those in which we receive sugar. They are called panjas ; 
and each panja weighs between thirty and forty pounds. 
The panja of wheat at Tete is worth a dollar, or five shil- 
lings J but the native grain may be obtained among the is- 
lands below Lupata at the rate of three panjas for two yards 
of calico. The highest articles of consumption are tea and 
coffee, the tea being often as high as fifteen shillings a pound. 
Food is cheaper down the river below Lupata, and previous 
to the war the islands which stud the Zambesi were all in- 
habited, and, the soil being exceedingly fertile, grain and 
fowls could be got to any amount. The inhabitants disap- 
peared before their enemies the Landeens, but are beginning 



* These appear to belong to Cassia acuti/olia, or true senna of com- 
merce, found in various parts of Africa and India. — Dr. Hooker. 

35* 



414 GOLD-WASHING. 

to return since the peace. They have no cattle, the only 
place where we found no tsetse being the district of Tete 
itself; and the cattle in the possession of the Portuguese 
are a mere remnant of what they formerly owned. 

When visiting the hot fountain, I examined what were 
formerly the gold-washings in the rivulet Mokoroze, which 
is nearly on the 16th parallel of latitude. The banks are 
covered with large groves of fine mango-trees, among which 
the Portuguese lived while superintending the washing for 
the precious metal. The process of washing is very labo- 
rious and tedious. A quantity of sand is put into a wooden 
bowl with water: a half-rotatory motion is given to the 
dish, which causes the coarser particles of sand to collect 
on one side of the bottom. These are carefully removed 
with the hand, and the process of rotation renewed until 
the whole of the sand is taken away and the gold alone 
remains. It is found in very minute scales, and, unless I 
had been assured to the contrary, I should have taken it to 
be mica ; for, knowing the gold to be of greater specific 
gravity than the sand, I imagined that a stream of water 
would remove the latter and leave the former; but here 
the practice is to remove the whole of the sand by the 
hand. This process was no doubt a profitable one to the 
Portuguese, and it is probable that, with the improved plan 
by means of mercury, the sands would be lucrative. I had 
an opportunity of examining the gold-dust from different 
parts to the east and northeast of Tete. There are six 
well-known washing-places. These are called Mashinga, 
Shindundo, Missala, Kapata, Mano, and Jawa. From the 
description of the rock I received, I suppose gold is found 
both in clay shale and in quartz. At the range Mushinga 
to the N.N.W. the rock is said to be so soft that the women 
pound it into powder in wooden mortars previous to wash- 
ing. 

Round toward the westward, the old Portuguese indicate 
a station which was near to Zumbo on the river Panyame. 
and called Dambarari, near which much gold was found. 



EXTENT OF THE GOLD-REGION 415 

Farther west lay the now unknown kingdom of Abiitua, 
which was formerly famous for the metal; and then, coming 
round toward the cast, we have the gold-washings of the 
Mashona, or Baziziilu, and, farther east, that of Manica, 
where gold is found much more abundantly than in any 
other part, and which has been supposed by some to be the 
Ophir of King Solomon. I saw the gold from this quarter 
as large as grains of wheat, that found in the rivers which 
run into the coal-field being in very minute scales. If we 
place one leg of the compasses at Tete, and extend the 
other three and a half degrees, bringing it round from the 
northeast of Tete by west, and then to the southeast, wo 
nearly touch or include all the known gold-producing coun- 
try. As the gold on this circumference is found in coarser 
grains than in the streams running toward the centre or 
Tete, I imagine that the real gold-field lies round about the 
coal-field ; and, if I am right in the conjecture, then w© 
have coal encircled by a gold-field, and abundance of wood, 
water, and provisions, — a combination not often met with 
in the world. The inhabitants are not unfavorable to 
-/ashings conducted on the principle formerly mentioned. 
At present they wash only when in want of a little calico. 
They know the value of gold perfectl}^ well; for they 
bring it for sale in goose-quills, and demand twenty-four 
yards of calico for one penful. 

Major Sicard, the commandant, whose kindness to me 
and my people was unbounded, presented a rosary made 
of the gold of the country, the workmanship of a native 
of Tete, to my little daughter, — also specimens of the gold- 
dust of three different places, which, with the coal of 
Muatize and Morongoze, are deposited in the Museum of 
Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, London. 

All the cultivation is carried on with hoes in the native 
manner, and considerable quantities of Holcus sorghum, 
maize, Fennisetum typho'ideum, or lotsa of the Balonda, 
millet, rice, and wheat are raised, as also several kinds of 
beans, — one of which, called " litloo" by the Bechuanas- 



416 LIBERALITY OF COMMANDANT. 

yields under ground, as well as the Arachis hypogcea, or 
groundnut; with cucumbers, pumpkins, and melons. The 
wheat is sown in low-lying places which are annually 
flooded by the Zambesi. When the waters retire, the 
women drop a few grains in a hole made with a hoe, then 
push back the soil with the foot. One weeding alone is 
required before the grain comes to maturity. This simple 
process represents all our sub-soil ploughing, liming, ma- 
nuring, and harrowing, for in four months after planting a 
good crop is ready for the sickle, and has been known to 
yield a hundred-fold. It flourished still more at Zumbo. 
'No irrigation is required, because here there are gentle 
rains, almost like mist, in winter, which go by the name 
of "wheat-showers,'^ and are unknown in the interior, 
where no winter rain ever falls. The rains at Tete come 
from the east, though the prevailing winds come from the 
S.S.E. The finest portion of the flour does not make 
bread nearly so white as the seconds, and here the boyaloa, 
(pombe,) or native beer, is employed to mix with the flour 
instead of yeast. It makes excellent bread. At Kilimane, 
where the cocoanut-palm abounds, the toddy from it, called 
" sura," is used for the same purpose, and makes the bread 
still lighter. 

As it was necessary to leave most of my men at this 
place. Major Sicard gave them a portion of land on which 
to cultivate their own food, generously supplying them 
with corn in the mean time. He also said that my young 
men might go and hunt elephants in company w^ith hia 
servants, and purchase goods with both the ivory and dried 
meat, in order that they might have something to take with 
them on their return to Sekeletu. The men were delighted 
with his liberality, and soon sixty or seventy of them set 
off to engage in this enterprise. There was no calico to be 
had at this time in Tete, but the commandant handsomely 
furnished my men with clothing. I was in a state of wank 
myself; and, though I pressed him to take payment in 
ivory for both myself and men, he refused all recompense. 



GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 417 

I shall ever remember his kindness with deep gratitude 
He has written me, since my arrival in England, that my 
men had killed four elephants in the course of two months 
after my departure. 

On the day of my arrival I was visited by all the gentle- 
men of the village, both white and colored, including the 
padre. Not one of them had any idea as to where the 
source of the Zambesi lay. They sent for the best-travelled 
natives ; but none of them knew the river even as far as 
Kansala. The father of one of the rebels who had been 
fighting against them had been a great traveller to the 
southwest, and had even heard of our visit to Lake Ngamij 
but he was equally ignorant with all the others that the 
Zambesi flowed in the centre of the country. They had, 
however, more knowledge of the country to the north of 
Tete than I had. One man, who had gone to Cazembe 
with Major Monteiro, stated that he had seen the Luapiira 
or Loapula flowing past the town of that chieftain into the 
Luameji or Leeambye, but imagined that it found its way, 
somehow or other, into Angola. The fact that sometimes 
rivers were seen to flow like this toward the centre of the 
country led geographers to the supposition that Inner 
Africa was composed of elevated sandy plains, into which 
rivers ran and were lost. One of the gentlemen present, 
Senhor Candido, had visited a lake forty-five days to the 
K.N.W. of Tete, which is probably the Lake Maravi of 
geographers, as in going thither they pass through the 
people of that name. The inhabitants of its southern coast 
are named Shiva, those on the north, Mujao ; and they call 
the lake Nyanja or Nyanje, which simply means a large 
water, or bed of a large river. A high mountain stands 
in the middle of it, called Murombo or Murombola, which 
is inhabited by people who have much cattle. He stated 
that he crossed the Nyanja at a narrow part, and was 
thirty-six hours in the passage. The canoes were punted 
the whole way, and, if we take the rate about two miles 
per hour, it may be sixty or seventy miles in breadth The 
2B 



418 THE SniRE — EARTHQUAKES. 

country all round was composed of level plains covered 
with grass, and, indeed, in going thither they travelled 
seven or eight days without wood, and cooked their food 
with grass and stalks of native corn alone. The people 
sold their cattle at a very cheap rate. From the southern 
extremity of the lake two rivers issue forth : one, named 
after itself, the Nyanja, which passes into the sea on the 
east coast under another name; and the Shire, which flows 
into the Zambesi a little below Senna. The Shire is named 
Shirwa at its point of departure from the lake, and Senhor 
Candido was informed, when there, that the lake was sim- 
ply an expansion of the river Nyanja, which comes from 
the north and encircles the mountain Murombo, the mean- 
ing of which is junction or union, in reference to the water 
having parted at its northern extremity and united again 
at its southern. The Shire flows through a low, flat, 
marshy country, but abounding in population, and they 
are said to be brave. The Portuguese are unable to navi- 
gate the Shire up to the Lake Nyanja, because of the great 
abundance of a water-plant which requires no soil, and 
which they name "alfacinya" {Pistia stratiotes) from its 
resemblance to a lettuce. This completely obstructs the 
progress, of canoes. In confirmation of this, I may state 
t<hat, when I passed the mouth of the Shire, great quanti- 
ties of this same plant were floating from it into the Zam- 
besi, and many parts of the banks below were covered 
with the dead plants. 

Senhor Candido stated that slight earthquakes have hap- 
pened several times in the country of the Maravi, and at 
no great distance from Tete. The motion seems to come 
from the eastward and never to have lasted more than a 
few seconds. They are named in the Maravi tongue 
"shiwo," and in that of the people of Tete ''shitakoteko," 
or ^'shivering." This agrees exactly with what has taken 
place in the coast of Mozambique, — a few slight shocks of 
short duration, and all appearing to come from the east. 
At Senna, too, a single shock has been felt several times, 



KINDNESS OF PORTUGUESE 419 

which shook the doors and windows and made the glaBsea 
jmglo. Both Tete and Senna have hot springs in their 
vicinity, but the shocks seemed to come, not from them, 
but from the east, and proceed to the west. They are pro- 
bably connected with the active volcanoes in the island of 
Bourbon. 

Having waited a month for the commencement of the 
healthy season at Kilimane, I would have started at the 
beginning of April, but tarried a few days, in order tliat the 
moon might make her appearance and enable me to take 
lunar observations on my way down the river. A sudden 
change of temperature happening on the 4th, simultane- 
ously with the appearance of the new moon, the command- 
ant and myself, with nearly every person in the house, 
were laid up with a severe attack of fever. I soon re- 
covered by the use of my wonted remedies ; but Major 
Sicard and his little boy were confined much longer. 
There was a general fall of 4° of temperature from the 
middle of March, 84° at 9 a.m., and 87° at 9 p.m., — the 
greatest heat being 90° at mid-day, and the lowest 81° at 
sunrise. It afforded me pleasure to attend the invalids in 
their sickness, — though I was unable to show a tithe of the 
gratitude I felt for the commandant's increasing kindness. 

The commandant provided for the journey most abun- 
dantly, and gave orders to Lieutenant Miranda that I 
should not be allowed to pay for any thing all the way to 
the coast, and sent messages to his friends Senhors Ferrao, 
Isidore, Asevedo, and Nunes, to treat me as they would 
himself From every one of these gentlemen I am happy 
to acknowledge that I received most disinterested kind- 
ness, and I ought to speak well forever of Portuguese hos- 
pitality. 1 have noted each little act of civility received, 
because, somehow or other, we have come to hold the Por- 
tuguese character in rather a low estimation. This may 
have arisen partly from the pertinacity with which some 
of them have pursued the slave-trade, and partly from the 
contrast which they now offer to their illustrious ancestors, 



420 THE REBEL BONGA. 

— the foremost navigators of the world. If my specification 
of their kindnesses will tend to engender a more respectful 
feeling to the nation, 1 shall consider myself well rewarded. 
We had three large canoes in the company which had lately 
come up with goods from Senna. They are made very 
large and strong, much larger than any we ever saw in the 
interior, and might strike with great force against a rock 
and not be broken. The men sit at the stern when pad- 
dling, and there is usually a little shed made over a part of 
the canoe to shade the passengers from the sun. The boat 
in which I went was furnished with such a covering; so 1 
sat quite comfortably. 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 

DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES THE EAST COAST AND RETURNS 

TO ENGLAND. 

We left Tete at noon on the 22d, and in the afternoon 
arrived at the garden of Senhor A. Manoel de Gomez, son- 
in-law and nephew of Bonga. The Commandant of Tete 
had sent a letter to the rebel Bonga, stating that he ought 
to treat me kindly, and he had deputed his son-in-law to 
be my host. Bonga is not at all equal to his father Ny- 
aude, who was a man of great ability. He is also in bad 
odor with the Portuguese, because he receives all runaway 
slaves and criminals. He does not trust the Portuguese, 
and is reported to be excessively superstitious. I found 
his son-in-law, Manoel, extremely friendly, and able to con- 
verse in a very intelligent manner. He was in his garden 
when we arrived, but soon dressed himself respectably 
and gave us a good tea and dinner. After a breakfast of 
tea, roasted eggs, and biscuits next morning, he presented 
six fowls and three goats as provision for the journey. 



WAR-DRUM AT SHIRAMBA. 421 

When we parted from him, we passed the stockade of 
Bonga :at the coDfluence of the Luenya, but did not go 
near it, as he is said to be very suspicious. The Portuguese 
advised me not to take any observation^ as the instruments 
might awaken fears in Bonga's mind, but Manoel said I 
might do so if I wished : his garden, however, being above 
the confluence, could not avail as a geographical point 
There are some good houses in the stockade. The trees of 
which it is composed seemed to me to be living, and could 
not be burned. It was strange to see a stockade menacing 
the whole commerce of the river in a situation where the 
guns of a vessel would have full play on it ; but it is a 
formidable affair for those who have only muskets. On 
one occasion, when Nyaude was attacked by Kisaka, they 
fought for weeks; and, though Nyaude was reduced to 
cutting up his copper anklets for balls, his enemies were 
not able to enter the stockade. 

"We sailed on quickly with the current of the river, and 
found that it spread out to more than two miles in breadth : 
it is, however, full of islands, which are generally covered 
with reeds, and which previous to the war were inhabited 
and yielded vast quantities of grain. We usually landed 
to cook breakfast, and then went on quickly. 

Next day we landed at Shiramba for breakfast, having 
sailed eight and a half hours from Lupata. This was once 
the residence of a Portuguese brigadier, who spent large 
sums of money in embellishing his house and gardens : 
these we found in entire ruin, as his half-caste son had 
destroyed all, and then rebelled against the Portuguese, 
but with less success than either Nyaude or Kisaka, for he 
had been seized and sent a prisoner to Mozambique a short 
time before our visit. All the southern shore has been 
ravaged by the Caffres, who are here named Landeens; 
and most of the inhabitants who remain acknowledge the 
authority of Bonga and not of the Portuguese. When at 
breakfast, the people of Shiramba commenced beating the 
drum of war. Lieutenant Miranda, who was well ac* 

36 



422 SENNA : ITS RUINOUS STATE. 

quainled with the customs of the country, immediately 
started to his feet and got all the soldiers of our party 
under arms : he then demanded of the natives why the 
drum was beaten while we were there. They gave an 
evasive reply ; and, as they employ this means of collect- 
ing their neighbors when they intend to rob canoes, our 
watchfulness may have prevented their proceeding further. 

We spent the night of the 26th on the island called 
Nkuesi, opposite a remarkable saddle-shaped mountain, 
and found that we were just on the seventeenth parallel 
of latitude. The sail down the river was very fine ; the 
temperature becoming low, it was pleasant to the feelings ; 
but, the shores being flat and far from us, the scenery was 
uninteresting. We breakfasted on the 27th at Pita, and 
found some half-caste Portuguese had established them- 
selves there, after fleeing from the opposite bank to escape 
Kisaka's people, who were now ravaging all the Maganja 
country. On the afternoon of the 27th we arrived at 
Senna. (Commandant Isidore's house, three hundred 
yards S.W. of the mud-fort on the banks of the river : 
lat. 17° 27' 1" S., long. 35° 10' E.) We found Senna to be 
twenty-three and a half hours' sail from Tete. 

I thought the state of Tete quite lamentable; but that of 
Senna was ten times worse. At Tete there is some life : 
here every thing is in a state of stagnation and ruin. The 
fort, built of sun-dried bricks, has the grass growing over 
the walls, which have been patched in some places by 
paling. The Landeens visit the village periodically and 
levy fines upon the inhabitants, as they consider the Por- 
tuguese a conquered tribe, and very rarely does a native 
come to trade. Senhor Isidore, the commandant, a man 
of considerable energy, had proposed to surround the whole 
village with palisades as a protection against the Landeens, 
and the villagers were to begin this work the day after I 
left. It was sad to look at the ruin manifest in every 
building; but the half-castes appear to be in league with 
the rebels and Landeens; for when any attempt is made 



BOAT-BUILDINCJ. 423 

by the Portuguese to coerce the enemy or defend them- 
selves, information is conveyed at once to the Landeen 
camp^ and, though the commandant prohibits the payment 
of tribute to the Landeens, on their approach the half- 
castes eagerly ransom themselves. 

The village of Senna stands on the right bank of the 
Zambesi. There are many reedy islands in front of it, 
and there is much bush in the country adjacent. The soil 
is fertile; but the village, being in a state of ruin, and 
having several pools of stagnant water, is very unhealthy. 

The most pleasant sight I witnessed at Senna was the 
aegroes of Senhor Isidore building boats after the European 
model, without any one to superintend their operations. 
They had been instructed by a European master, but now 
go into the forest and cut down the motondo-trees, lay 
down the keel, fit in the ribs, and make very neat boats 
and launches, valued at from £20 to £100. Senhor Isidore 
had some of them instructed also in carpentry at Eio 
Janeiro, and they constructed for him the handsomest 
house in Kilimane, the woodwork being all of country 
trees, some of which are capable of a fine polish, ana very 
durable. 

On the 9th of May sixteen of my men were employed to 
carry Government goods in canoes up to Tete. They were 
much pleased at getting this work. On the 11th the whole 
of the inhabitants of Senna, with the commandant, accom- 
panied us to the boats. A venerable old man, son of a 
judge, said they were in much sorrow on account of the 
miserable state of decay into which they had sunk, and of 
the insolent conduct of the people of Kisaka now in the 
village. We were abundantly supplied with provisions by 
the commandant and Senhor Ferrao, and sailed pleasantly 
down the broad river. About thirty miles below Senna 
we passed the mouth of the river Zangwe on our right, 
which farther up goes by the name of Pungwe ; and about 
five miles farther on our left, close to the end of a low 
range into which Morumbala merges, we crossed tb.a 



424 EFFECTS OP FEVER. 

mouth of the Shire, which seemed to be about two hundred 
yards broad. 

A few miles beyond the Shire we left the hills entirely, 
and sailed between extensive flats. The banks seen in the 
distance are covered with trees. We slept on a large in- 
habited island, and then came to the entrance of the river 
Mutu, (latitude 18° 3' 37" S., longitude 35° 46' E. :) the point 
of departure is called Mazaro, or '^ mouth of the Mutu.'' 

I was seized by a severe tertian fever at Mazaro, but 
went along the right bank of the Mutu to the N.N.E. and 
E. for about fifteen miles. We then found that it was made 
navigable by a river called the Pangazi, which comes into 
it from the north. 

My fever became excessively severe in consequence of 
travelling in the hot sun, and the long grass blocking up 
the narrow path so as to exclude the air. The pulse beat 
with amazing force, and felt as if thumping against the 
crown of the head. The stomach and spleen swelled enor 
mously, — giving me, for the first time, an appearance which 
I had been disposed to laugh at among the Portuguese. 
At Interra we met Senhor Asevedo, a man who is well 
known by all who ever visited Kilimane, and who was pre- 
sented with a gold chronometer watch by the Admiralty 
for his attentions to English officers. He immediately 
tendered his large sailing-launch, which had a house in the 
stern. This was greatly in my favor, for it anchored in 
the middle of the stream, and gave me some rest from the 
mosquitos, which in the whole of the delta are something 
frightful. Sailing comfortably in this commodious launch 
along the river of Kilimane, we reached that village (lati- 
tude 17° 53' 8" S., longitude 36° 40' E.) on the 20th of 
May, 1856, which wanted only a few days of being four 
years since I started from Cape Town. Here I was re- 
ceived into the house of Colonel Galdina Jose Nunes, one 
of the best men in the country. I had been three years 
without hearing from my family, — letters having boon 
frequently sent, but somehow or other, with but a single 



THE author's obligations. 425 

exception, they never reached me. I received, however, a 
letter from Admiral Trotter, conveying information of their 
welfare, and some newspapers, which were a treat indeed. 
Her majesty's brig the " Frolic" had called to inquire for 
me in the November previous, and Captain Nolluth, of 
that ship, had most considerately left a case of wine; and 
his surgeon. Dr. James Walsh, divining what I should need 
most, left an ounce of quinine. These gifts made my heart 
overflow. I had not tasted any liquor whatever during the 
time I had been in Africa; but, when reduced in Angola to 
extreme weakness, I found much benefit from a little wine, 
and took from Loanda one bottle of brandy in my medi- 
cine-chest, intending to use it if it were again required; 
but the boy who carried it whirled the box upside-down 
and smashed the bottle, so that I cannot give my testimony 
either in favor of or against the brandy. 

But my joy on reaching the east coast was sadly embit- 
tered by the news that Commander MacLune, of H.M. 
brigantine " Dart,'' on coming in to Kilimane to pick me 
Up, had, with Lieutenant Woodruffe and five men, been lost 
*>n the bar. I never felt more poignant sorrow. It seemed 
*s if it would have been easier for me to have died for them 
than that they should all be cut off from the joys of life in 
generously attempting to render me a service. I would 
nere acknowledge my deep obligations to the Earl of Cla- 
rendon, to the admiral at the Cape, and others, for the kind 
interest they manifested in my safety : even the inquiries 
made were very much to my advantage. I also refer with 
feelings of gratitude to the Governor of Mozambique for 
offering me a passage in the schooner "Zambesi," belonging 
to that province ; and I shall never forget the generous 
hospitality of Colonel Kunes and his nephew, with whom 
I remained. One of the discoveries I have made is that 
there are vast numbers of good people in the world ; and 
I do most devoutly tender my unfeigned thanks to that 
Gracious One who mercifully watched over me in ©very 

36* 



426 THE author's objects. 

position and influenced the hearts of both black and white 
to rey-ard me with favor. 

If the reader has accompanied me thus far, he may per- 
haps be disposed to take an interest in the objects I pro- 
pose to myself should God mercifully grant me the honoi 
of doing something more for Africa. As the highlands 
on the borders of the central basin are comparatively 
healthy, the first object seems to be to secure a permanent 
path thither, in order that Europeans may pass as quickly 
as possible through the unhealthy region near the coast. 
The river has not been surveyed, but at the time I came 
down there was abundance of water for a large vessel; and 
this continues to be the case during four or five months of 
each year. The months of low water still admit of naviga- 
tion by launches, and would permit small vessels equal to 
the Thames steamers to ply with ease in the deep channel. 
If a steamer were sent to examine the Zambesi, I would 
recommend one of the lightest draught, and the months of 
May, June, and July for passing through the delta ; and 
this not so much for fear of want of water as the danger 
of being grounded on a sand or mud bank and the health 
of the crew being endangered by the delay. 

In the months referred to, no obstruction would be in- 
curred in the channel below Tete. Twenty or thirty miles 
above that point we have a small rapid, of which I regret 
my inability to speak, as (mentioned already) I did not 
visit it. But, taking the distance below this point, we have, 
in round numbers, three hundred miles of navigable river. 
Above this rapid we have another reach of three hundred 
miles, with sand, but no mud-banks in it, which brings us 
to the foot of the eastern ridge. Let it not, however, be 
thought that a vessel by going thither would return laden 
with ivory and gold-dust. The Portuguese of Tete pick up 
all the merchandise of the tribes in their vicinity ; and, 
though I came out by traversing the people with whom the 
Portuguese had been at war, it does not follow that it will 
be perfectly safe for others to go in whose goods may be a 



THE author's objects. 427 

Btronger temptation to cupidity than any thing I possessed. 
When we get beyond the hostile population mentioned, we 
reach a very different race. On the latter my chief hopes 
at present rest. All of them, however, are willing and 
anxious to engage in trade, and, while eager for this, none 
have ever been encouraged to cultivate the raw materials 
of commerce. Their country is well adapted for cotton; 
and I. venture to entertain the hope that by distributing 
seeds of better kinds than that which is found indigenous, 
and stimulating the natives to cultivate it by affording 
them the certainty of a market for all they may produce, 
we may engender a feeling of mutual dependence between 
them and ourselves. I have a twofold object in view, and 
■ believe that, by guiding our missionary labors so as to 
benefit our own country, we shall thereby more effectually 
and permanently benefit the heathen. Seven years were 
spent at Kolobeng in instructing my friends there; but, tho 
country being incapable of raising materials for exportation, 
when the Boers made their murderous attack and scattered 
the tribe for a season, none sympathized except a few 
Christian friends. Had the people of Kolobeng been m 
the habit of raising the raw materials of English commerce, 
the outrage would have been felt in England; or, what is 
more likely to have been the case, the people would have 
raised themselves in the scale by barter, and have become, 
like the Basutos of Moshesh and people of Kuruman, pos- 
sessed of fire-arms, and the Boers would never have made 
the attack at all. We ought to encourage the Africans to 
cultivate for our markets, as the most effectual means, next 
to the gospel, of their elevation. 

It is in the hope of working out this idea that I propose 
the formation of stations on the Zambesi beyond the For- 
tuguese territory but having communication through them 
with the coast. A chain of stations admitting of easy and 
Bpeedy intercourse, such as might be formed along the flank 
of the eastern ridge, would be in a favorable position foi 
carrying out the objects in view. The London Missionary 



428 ARRANGEMENTS ON LEAVING AFRICA. 

Society has resolved to have a station among the Makololo 
on the north bank, and another on the south among the 
Matebele. The Church — "Wesley an, Baptist, and that most 
energetic body, the Free Church — could each find desirable 
locations among the Batoka and adjacent tribes. Tho 
country is so extensive there is no fear of clashing. Ail 
classes of Christians find that sectarian rancor soon dies 
out when they are working together among and for the 
real heathen. Only let the healthy locality be searched 
for and fixed upon, and then there will be free scope to 
work in the same cause in various directions, without that 
loss of men which the system of missions on the unhealthy 
coast entails. While respectfully submitting the plan to 
these influential societies, I can positively state that, when 
fairly in the interior, there is perfect security for life and 
property among a people who will at least listen and 
reason. 

Eight of my men begged to be allowed to come as far 
as Kilimane, and, thinking that they would there see the 
ocean, I consented to their coming, though the food was so 
scarce in consequence of a dearth that they were compelled 
to suffer some hunger. They would fain have come far- 
ther; for when Sekeletu parted with them his orders wero 
that none of them should turn until they had reached Ma 
Eobert and brought her back with them. On my explain- 
ing the difficulty of crossing the sea, he said, ^' Wherever 
you lead, they must follow." As I did not know well how 
I should get home myself, I advised them to go back to 
Tete, where food was abundant, and there await my return. 
I bought a quantity of calico and brass wire with ten of 
the smaller tusks which we had in our charge, and sent 
the former back as clothing to those who remained at Tete. 
As there were still twenty tusks left, I deposited them 
with Colonel Nunes, that, in the event of any thing hap- 
pening to prevent my return, the impression might not be 
produced in the country that I had made away with Seke- 
letu' s ivory. I instructed Colonel Nunes, in case of my 



THE AUTHOR* S POSITION. 42^ 

death, to sell the tusks and deliver the proceeds to my 
men; but I intended, if my life should be prolonged, to 
purchase the goods ordered by Sekeletu in England with 
my own money, and pay myself on my return out of the 
price of the ivory. This I explained to the men fully, and 
they, understanding the matter, replied, " Nay, father, you 
will not die; you will return to take us back to Sekeletu/' 
They promised to wait till I came back; and, on my part, 
I assured them that nothing but death would prevent my 
return. This I said, though while waiting at Kilimane a 
letter came from the Directors of the London Missionary 
Society stating that "they were restricted in their power 
of aiding plans connected only remotely with the spread 
of the gospel, and that the financial circumstances of the 
society were not such as to afford any ground of hope that 
it would be in a position, within any definite period, to 
enter upon untried, remote, and difficult fields of labor." 
This has been explained since as an effusion caused by tem- 
porary financial depression ; but, feeling perfect confidence 
in my Makololo friends, I was determined to return and 
trust to their generosity. The old love of independence, 
which I had so strongly before joining the society, again 
returned. It was roused by a mistaken view of what this 
letter meant; for the directors, immediately on my reach- 
ing home, saw the great importance of the opening, and 
entered with enlightened zeal on the work of sending the 
gospel into the new field. It is to be hoped that their con- 
stituents will not only enable them to begin, but to carry 
out their plans, and that no material depression will ever 
again be permitted, nor appearances of spasmodic benevo- 
lence recur. "While I hope to continue the same cordial 
co-operation and friendship which have always character- 
ized our intercourse, various reasons induce me to withdraw 
from pecuniary dependence on any society. I have done 
something for the heathen ; but for an aged mother, who has 
still more sacred claims than they, I have been able to do 
nothing, and a continuance of the connection would be a 



430 VILLAGE OP KILIMANE. 

perpetuation of my inability to make any provision for her 
declining years. In addition to " clergyman's sore throat/* 
which partially disabled me from the work, my father's 
death imposed new obligations; and, a fresh source of in- 
come having been opened to me without my asking, I had 
no hesitation in accepting what would enable me to fulfil 
my duty to my aged parent as well as to the heathen. 

The village of Kilimane stands on a great mud-bank, 
and is surrounded by extensive swamps and rice-grounds. 
The banks of the river are lined with mangrove-bushes, 
the roots of which, and the slimy banks on which they 
grow, are alternately exposed to the tide and sun. The 
houses are well built of brick and lime, the latter from 
Mozambique. If one digs down two or three feet in any 
part of the site of the village, he comes to water ; hence 
the walls built on this mud-bank gradually subside; pieces 
are sometimes sawn off the doors below, because the walls 
in which they are fixed have descended into the ground, so 
as to leave the floors higher than the bottom of the doors. 
It is almost needless to say that Kilimane is very un- 
healthy. A man of plethoric temperament is sure to get 
fever, and concerning a stout person one may hear the 
remark, "Ah, he will not live long; he is sure to die." 

After waiting about six weeks at this unhealthy spot, 
in which, however, by the kind attentions of Colonel 
Nunes and his nephew, I partially recovered from my ter- 
tian, H.M. brig " Frolic" arrived off Kilimane. As the 
village is twelve miles from the bar, and the weather was 
rough, she was at anchor ten days before we knew of her 
presence about seven miles from the entrance to the port. 
She brought abundant supplies for all my need, and £150 
to pay my passage home, from my kind friend Mr. Thomp- 
son, the Society's agent at the Cape. The admiral at the 
Cape kindly sent an offer of a passage to the Mauritius, 
which I thankfully accepted. Sekwebu and one attendant 
alone remained with me now. He was very intelligent, and 
had been of the greatest service to me : indeed, but for hia 



ROUGH PASSAGE TO THE "FROLIC." 431 

good sense, tact, and command of the language of the 
tribes through which we passed, I believe we should 
scarcely have succeeded in reaching the coast. I naturally 
felt grateful to him; and as his chief wished all my com- 
panions to go to England with me, and would probably be 
disappointed if none went, I thought it would be beneficial 
for him to see the effects of civilization and report them to 
his countrymen. I wished also to make some return for his 
very important services. Others had petitioned to come, 
but I explained the danger of a change of climate and food, 
and with difficulty restrained them. The only one who 
now remained begged so hard to come on board ship that I 
greatly regretted that the expense prevented my acceding 
to his wish to visit England. I said to him, "You will die 
if you go to such a cold country as mine." ^'That is 
nothing," he reiterated; '^let me die at your feet." 

When we parted from our friends at Kilimane, the sea 
on the bar was frightful even to the seamen. This was the 
first time Sekwebu had seen the sea. Captain Peyton had 
sent two boats in case of accident. The waves were so high 
that, when the cutter was in one trough and we in the 
pinnace in another, her mast was hid. We then mounted 
to the crest of the wave, rushed down the slope, and 
struck the water again with a blow which felt as if she 
had struck the bottom. Boats must be singularly well con- 
structed to be able to stand these shocks. Three breakers 
swept over us. The men lift up their oars, and a wave 
comes sweeping over all, giving the impression that the 
boat is going down; but she only goes beneath the top of 
the wave, comes out on the other side, and swings down 
the slope, and a man bales out the water with a bucket. 
Poor Sekwebu looked at me when these terrible seas broke 
over, and said, " Is this the way you go ? Is this the way 
you go?" I smiled and said, "Yes; don't you see it is?" 
and tried to encourage him. He was well acquainted with 
canoes, but never had seen aught like this. When we 
reached the ship, — a fine, large brig of sixteen guns and a 



432 INSANITY OF SEKWEBU. 

crew of one huDdred and thirty, — she was rolling so that 
we could see a part of her bottom. It was quite impossi- 
ble for landsmen to catch the ropes and climb up; so a 
chair was sent down, and we were hoisted in as ladies 
usually are, and received so hearty an English welcome 
from Captain Peyton and all on board that I felt myself at 
once at home in every thing except my own mother-tongue. 
I seemed to know the language perfectly, but the words I 
wanted would not come at my call. When I left England 
I had no intention of returning, and directed my attention 
earnestly to the languages of Africa, paying none to 
English composition. With the exception of a short in- 
terval in Angola, I had been three and a half years without 
speaking English, and this, with thirteen years of previous 
partial disuse of my native tongue, made me feel sadly at 
a loss on board the "Frolic." 

We left Kilimane on the 12th of July, and reached the 
Mauritius on the 12th of August, 1856. Sekwebu was 
picking up English, and becoming a favorite with both men 
and officers. He seemed a little bewildered, every thing on 
board a man-of-war being so new and strange; but he re- 
marked to me several times, " Your countrymen are very 
agreeable,'' and, "What a strange country this is !— all water 
together l" He also said that he now understood why I 
used the sextant. When we reached the Mauritius a 
steamer came out to tow us into the harbor. The constant 
strain on his untutored mind seemed now to reach a climax, 
for during the night he became insane. I thought at first 
that he was intoxicated. He had descended into a boat, 
and, when I attempted to go down and bring him into the 
ship, he ran to the stern and said, "JSTo ! no! it is enough 
that I die alone. You must not perish ; if you come, I 
shall throw myself into the water." Perceiving that his 
mind was affected, I said, "Now, Sekwebu, we are going 
to Ma Eobert." This struck a chord in his bosom, and he 
said, "Oh, yes! where is she, and where is Eobert?" and 
he seemed to recover The officers proposed to secure him 



DEATH OF SEKWEBU — VOYAGE HOME. 433 

by putting him in irons; but, being a gentleman in his own 
country, I objected, knowing that the insane often retain 
an impression of ill-treatment, and I could not bear to have 
it said in Sekeletu's country that I had chained one of his 
principal men as they had seen slaves treated. I tried to get 
him on shore by day, but he refused. In the evening a fresh 
accession of insanity occurred : he tried to spear one of the 
crew, then leaped overboard, and, though he could swim 
well, pulled himself down hand under hand by the chain- 
cable. AYe never found the body of poor Sekwebu. 

At the Mauritius I was most hospitably received by 
Major-General C. M. Hay, and he generously constrained 
me to remain with him till, by the influence of the good 
climate and quiet English comfort, I got rid of an enlarged 
spleen from African fever. In November I came up the Eed 
Sea, escaped the danger of shipwreck through the admirable 
management of Captain Powell, of the Peninsular and 
Oriental Steam-Company's ship ^^ Candia," and on the 
12th of December was once more in dear old England. 
The Company most liberally refunded my passage-money. 
I have not mentioned half the favors bestowed; but I may 
just add that no one has cause for more abundant grati- 
tude to his fellow-men and to his Maker than I have; and 
may God grant that the effect on my mind be such that I 
may be more humbly devoted to the service of the Author 
of all our mercies ! 



2C 37 



HISTORICAL NOTICES OF DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA, 

In the time of Herodotus, and long afterward, the ge- 
neral opinion was that Africa did not extend so far south 
as the equatorial line. There existed, however, a tradition 
that Africa had been circumnavigated by the Phoenicians 
about six centuries before the Christian era ; but, if the 
southern promontory of Africa had really been reached, 
it is difficult to conceive how so erroneous an impression 
could have prevailed as to the extent of the continent. It 
is, therefore, most probable that such a voyage had never 
succeeded; and, indeed, the circumstances under which it 
was prosecuted, according to the accounts which have come 
down to us, only add an additional feature of improbability 
to the story. Turning to modern times, we find, at the 
commencement of the fifteenth century, that Europeans 
were only acquainted with that portion of the western 
coast of Africa which extends from the Straits of Gibraltar 
to Cape Nun, — a line of coast not exceeding six hundred 
miles in length. The Portuguese had the honor of extend- 
ing this limited acquaintance with the outline of the African 
continent. Their zeal for discovery in this direction became 
truly a national passion, and the sovereigns and princes of 
Portugal prosecuted this object with singular enthusiasm. 
By the year 1471 the Portuguese navigators had advanced 
2^° south of the Line. In 1484, Diego Cam reached 22° 
south latitude. The next navigator, Bartholomew Diaz, 
was commanded to pursue his course southward until he 
should reach the extremity of Africa; and to him belongs 
the honor of discovering the Cape of Good Hope, the name 
given to it at the time by the King of Portugal, though 
Diaz had named it Cabo Tormcntoso, (the Cape of Tem- 
pests.) The Cape of Good Hope was at first frequently 
called the Lion of the Sea, and also the Head of Aft-ica 
In 1497, Yasco de Gama set forth with the intention of 
re? jhing India by sailing round the Cape of Good Hope 
434 



SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY. 435 

After doubling the Cape, he pursued his course along the 
eastern coast of Africa, and then stretched across the ocean 
to India. The Portuguese had now ascertained the general 
outline of Africa and the position of man}^ of the principal 
rivers and headlands. With the exception of a portion of 
the coast from the Straits of Bab el Mandeb to Mukdeesha, 
situated in 3° north latitude, the whole of the coast had 
been traced by the Portuguese, and their zeal and enthu- 
siasm, which had at one period been treated with ridicule, 
were at length triumphantly rewarded, about four years 
before Columbus had achieved his great discovery, which, 
with that of Yasco de Gama, amply repaid a century of 
speculative enterprise. This interesting combination of 
events had a sensible effect upon the general mind of 
Europe. The Portuguese soon formed settlements in 
Africa, and began to acquire a knowledge of the interior 
of the country. They were followed by the French, and 
afterward by the English and the Dutch. 

It is chiefly within the last fifty years that discoveries 
in the interior of Africa have been perseveringly and sys- 
tematically prosecuted. In 1788, a society was established 
in London with the design of encouraging men of enter- 
prise to explore the African continent. John Ledyard, 
an American, was the first person selected by the African 
Association for this task; and he set out in 1788 with tho 
intention of traversing the widest part of the continent 
from east to west, in the supposed latitude of the river 
INiger. Unfortunately, he was seized at Cairo with a 
fever, of which he died. He possessed few scientific ac- 
quirements ; but his vigor and powers of endurance, mental 
and bodily, his indifference to pain, hardship, and fatigue, 
would have rendered him an admirable geographical pio- 
neer. "I have known," he said, shortly before leaving 
England for the last time, ^^ hunger and nakedness to the 
utmost extremity of human suffering ; I have known what 
it is to have food given as charity to a madman, and have 
at times been obliged to shelter myself under the miseries 



436 SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERT. 

of that character to avoid a heavier calamity. My dis- 
tresses have been greater than I have ever owned, or ever 
will own, to any man. Such evils are terrible to bear ; but 
they never yet had the power to turn me from my purpose.'' 
Such was the indomitable energy of this man, the first of 
a long list of victims in the cause of African discovery. 
Mr. Lucas, who was despatched by the Association to sup- 
ply the place of Ledyard, was compelled to return home 
in consequence of several of the countries through which 
he would have to pass being engaged in hostilities. In 
1790, Major Houghton, an officer who was acquainted with 
the customs of the Moors and Negroes, proceeded to Africa 
under the auspices of the Association, and had made con- 
siderable progress in the interior, when, after having been 
treacherously plundered and left in the Desert, where he 
endured severe privations, he reached Jarra, and died there 
in September, 1791, it being strongly suspected that he was 
murdered. The next individual on whom the Association 
fixed was Mungo Park, who proceeded to the river Gambia 
in 1795 and thence set out into the interior. The great 
object accomplished during his journey was that of suc- 
cessfully exploring the banks of the Niger, which had pre- 
viously been considered identical with the river Senegal 
In 1804, Park set out upon his second journey, which was 
undertaken at the expense of the Government. The plan 
of former travellers had been to accompany the caravans 
from one part of the countiy to another; but in this ex- 
pedition Park required a party of thirty-six Europeans, 
six of whom were to be seamen and the remainder soldiers, 
it being his intention, on reaching the Niger, to build two 
vessels, and to follow with his party the course of the river. 
If the Congo and the Niger were the same stream, as was 
then supposed, he anticipated little difficulty in his enter- 
])rise ; but if, as was also maintained, the Niger terminated 
in swamps and morasses, many hardships and dangers were 
expected in their subsequent progress. Park at length 
reached the Niger, accompanied only by seven of his party^ 



SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY 437 

all of whom were in a state of great weakness from the 
effects of the climate. They built one vessel, and, on the 
17th of November, 1805, were ready to embark on the 
river, previous to which Park sent despatches to England. 
His party was now reduced to five, his brother-in-law having 
died a few days before. Park's spirit, however, remained 
undaunted. " Though all the Europeans who are with mo 
should die," said he, in his last letters to England, ^^ and 
though I myself were half dead, I would still persevere; 
and, if I could not succeed in the object of my journey, I 
would at least die in the Niger." He embarked, therefore, 
with the intention of sailing down the river to its mouth, 
wherever that might be; but, after passing Timbuctoo and 
several other cities, he was killed in the Niger, at a place 
called Boussa, a short distance below Yaouri. No part of 
his journal after he left Sansanding has ever been recovered. 
In 1797, the African Association had engaged Mr. Horne- 
mann, a German, who left Cairo in September, 1798, with 
the intention of carrying into effect the objects of the As- 
sociation by proceeding as far southward and westward as 
he could get. In his last despatches he expressed himself 
confident in being able to succeed in reaching a greater 
distance into the interior than any other European traveller; 
but, after reaching Bornou, no certain intelligence was ever 
afterward heard concerning him. Mr. Hornemann learned 
many particulars which had not before been known in 
Europe respecting the countries to the east of Timbuctoo. 
Mr. Nicholls, who was next engaged, arrived in the Gulf 
of Benin in November, 1804, and died soon afterward of 
the fever of the country. Another German, Boentzen, was 
next sent to Africa. He had bestowed extraordinary pains 
in making himself acquainted with the prevailing language, 
and, throwing off his costume, proceeded in the character 
of a Mussulman, but unhappily was murdered by his guides 
on his way to Soudan. The next traveller sent out by the 
Association was Burckhardt, a Swiss. He spent several 
years in acquiring a knowledge of the language and customs 

37* 



438 SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY. 

of the people he intended to visit, and, like Mr. Boentzen^ 
assumed the characteristics of a Mussulman. He died at 
Cairo in 1817, his travels having been chiefly confined to 
the Abyssinian countries. 

In 1816, an expedition was sent out by the Government, 
under the command of Captain Tuckey, to the river Congo, 
under the idea, in which Park coincided, that it and the 
Niger were the same river. Captain Tuckey ascended the 
Congo for about two hundred and eighty miles. At the 
same time, Major Peddie, and, after his death, Captain 
Campbell, proceeded from the mouth of the river Senegal 
as far as Kakundy. In 1817, Mr. Bowdich explored the 
countries adjoining Cape Coast Castle. In 1820, Mr. Jack- 
son communicated an interesting account of the territories 
of Timbuctoo and Houssa, from details which he had col- 
lected from a Mussulman merchant. In 1819 and in 1821, 
the expeditions of Messrs. Eitchie and Lyon, and of Major 
Laing, showed the strong and general interest on the sub- 
ject of African geography. In 1822, the important expedi- 
tion under Major Denham and Lieut. Clapperton set forth. 
After crossing the Desert, the travellers reached the great 
inland sea or lake called the Tchad, the coasts of which to 
the west and south were examined by Major Denham. 
This lake, from four hundred to six hundred feet above the 
level of the sea, is one of the most remarkable features in 
the physical geography of Africa. Lieut. Clapperton, in 
the mean time, proceeded through the kingdom of Bornou 
and the country of the Fellatahs to Sockatoo, situated on a 
stream supposed to run into the Niger. A great mass of 
information respecting the countries eastward of Timbuctoo 
was the result of his expedition. As to the course of the 
Niger, very little intelligence was obtained which could be 
depended upon : the natives stated that it flowed into the 
sea at Funda, though what place on the coast was meant 
still remained a conjecture. Soon after his return to Eng- 
land, Clapperton was sent out by the Government to con- 
duct a new expedition, and was directed to proceed to the 



SKETCH OP AFRICAN DISCOVERY. 431) 

scene of his former adventures. Having reached the Niger 
at Boussa, where Park was killed, he passed through various 
countries, and reached Sockatoo, where he died ; and Lan- 
der, his friend and servant, commenced his return to Eng- 
land with Clapperton's journals and papers. Major Laing, 
meanwhile, had visited Timbuctoo, and transmitted home 
accounts of this famous city, where he spent some weeks ; 
but on his return he was murdered, and his papers have 
never been recovered. We have not space to allude to the 
many well-executed expeditions which have proceeded 
from Cape Town for the purpose of exploring South 
Africa, but have confined ourselves to those exertions which 
had for their object the elucidation of the question concern 
ing the course and termination of the Niger, and were con- 
sequently directed to Central Africa. 

The termination of the Niger had long been one of the 
most interesting problems in African geography, and we 
have now reached the period when, on this point, facts 
were substituted for conjecture and hypothesis. The river 
had first been seen by Park, near Sego, the capital of Bam- 
barra. It was called by the natives the Joliba, or " Great 
Water;" and Park described it as "flowing slowly to the 
eastward.'^ He followed the course of the river for about 
three hundred miles, and was told that a journey of ten 
days would bring him to its source. At Sockatoo, Lieut. 
Clapperton found that it was called the Quorra, by which 
name it is known in the most recent maps, it having re- 
ceived the name of the Niger, in the first instance, from its 
supposed identity with the Nigir of the ancients. The 
want of information concerning the course and termination 
of this mysterious river, until determined by actually pro- 
ceeding down its channel to the sea, was, as may be sup- 
posed, a fruitftd source of speculation among geographers. 
By some it was supposed to flow into the Nile; others 
imagined that a great central lake received its waters. 
Major Eennel, an authority of great weight, came to the 
conclusion that, after passing Timbuctoo, the Niger flowed 



440 SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY. 

a thousand miles in an easterly direction, and terminated 
in a lake or swamp; others supported the opinion that its 
waters were lost in the arid sands of the Desert; while the 
Congo was said by many to be its outlet. Major Laing, by 
ascertaining the source of the Niger to be not more than 
sixteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, proved that 
it could not flow into the Nile; and Denham and Clappei- 
ton demonstrated that it did not, as had been supposed, 
discharge itself into the Lake of Bornou. 

Eichard and John Lander, in 1830, under the auspices 
of the British Government, solved the long-disputed problem 
of the course of the Niger by sailing down on its waters 
from Boussa to the ocean, where it was found to terminate 
in what was called the Nun, or First Brass Eiver, from the 
negro town of Brass situated on its banks. 

An expedition under the auspices of the British Govern- 
ment, and headed by Dr, Henry Barth, attended by Dr. 
Overberg and Mr. James Eichardson, was sent out in 1849 
to prosecute discoveries in Northern Central Africa. Theii 
travels and researches into the history and present state of 
the interior tribes were continued till 1855, and their results 
have recently been published by Dr. Barth. Dr. Overberg 
died in 1854, and was buried on the shores of Lake Tchad 
or Tsad. Mr. Eichardson also fell a victim to the climate 
before the close of the expedition. 

Dr. Barth visited the countries of Bornou, Kanem, Man- 
dara, Bagirmi, and others previously explored by Denham 
and Clapperton, and carried his researches much farther, 
reaching the eighth degree of north latitude. His volumes 
contain much curious and minute information. 

As Dr. Livingstone's researches reach only the eighth 
degree of north latitude, there still remains an immense 
region of Interior Africa, sixteen degrees broad, open to 
future explorers. 



THE END 

I 



n 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: June 2003 

PreservationTechnologiei 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIO 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



